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Citation
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Jefferis BJ, Merom D, Sartini C, Wannamethee SG, Ash S, Lennon LT, Iliffe S, Kendrick D, Whincup PH. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2015; 47(10): 2119-2128. |
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Affiliation
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1UCL Department of Primary Care & Population Health, UCL Medical School, Rowland Hill Street, London, England, United Kingdom; 2UCL Physical Activity Research Group, London, United Kingdom; 3School of Science and Health, University of Western Sydney, Penrith NSW, Australia; 4Division of Primary Care, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England, United Kingdom; 5Population Health Research Institute, St George's University of London, Cranmer Terrace, London, England, United Kingdom. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) has many health benefits but may increase falls risk among older adults. We study how objectively measured habitual daily PA is related to falls, exploring the modifying effect of mobility limitations and the mediating role of fitness and lower limb strength.
METHODS: 1655/3137(53%) of surviving participants (men aged 71-91 years) in an ongoing UK population-based cohort study wore an Actigraph GT3x accelerometer over the hip for one week in 2010-12 to measure PA (exposure) and reported demographic and health status including mobility limitations. One year later, 825 men reported falls history (outcome).
RESULTS: 700/825 men had ≥600 minutes/day of accelerometer wear on ≥3 days. 19%(n=128) reported falls one year later. Associations between PA and falls differed by presence of mobility limitations. Among 66%(n=471) men without mobility limitations, number of falls increased incrementally; Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) 1.50 (95%CI 1.10,2.03) per 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), adjusted for falls risk factors. Step count was not related to number of falls below 9000 steps/day, but ≥9000 steps/day, the IRR was 1.59 (95%CI 1.16,2.18) per additional 1000 steps/day. Among 33%(n=229) men with mobility limitations, falls risk declined with increasing activity; IRR 0.80 (95%CI 0.70, 0.91) per 1000 steps/day and IRR 0.61 (95%CI 0.42, 0.89) per 30 minutes of MVPA, and IRR 1.22 (1.07,1.40) for each additional 30 minutes of sedentary behaviour of 600 or more minutes/day.
CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to promote MVPA in older men should incorporate falls prevention strategies and among adults with mobility limitations, trials should investigate whether increasing MVPA levels can reduce falls risks.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License, where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially.
Language: en |