@article{ref1,
title="Trail-Walking Exercise and Fall Risk Factors in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial",
journal="Journal of the American Geriatrics Society",
year="2010",
author="Yamada, Minoru and Tanaka, Buichi and Nagai, Kazuyuki and Aoyama, Tomoki and Ichihashi, Noriaki",
volume="58",
number="10",
pages="1946-1951",
abstract="OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effects of a trail-walking exercise (TWE) program on the rate of falls in community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN: Pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT). SETTING: This trial was conducted in Japan and involved community-dwelling older adults as participants. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty participants randomized into a TWE group (n=30) and a walking (W) group (n=30). INTERVENTION: Exercise class combined with multicomponent trail walking program, versus exercise class combined with simple indoor walking program. MEASUREMENT: Measurement was based on the difference in fall rates between the TWE and W groups. RESULTS: Six months after the intervention, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of falls for the TWE group compared with the W group was 0.20 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.04-0.91); 12 months after the intervention, the IRR of falls for the TWE group compared with the W group was 0.45 (95% CI=0.16-1.77). CONCLUSION: The results of this pilot RCT suggest that the TWE program was more effective in improving locomotion and cognitive performance under trail-walking task conditions than walking. In addition, participants who took part in the TWE demonstrated a decrease in the incidence rate of falls 6 months after trial completion. Further confirmation is needed, but this preliminary result may promote a new understanding of accidental falls in older adults.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0002-8614",
doi="10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03059.x",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03059.x"
}