@article{ref1,
title="Effectiveness of a Multifactorial Intervention Program to Reduce Falls Incidence Among Community-Living Elderly People: A Randomised Clinical Trial (The EPICA Study)",
journal="Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation",
year="2012",
author="Pérula, Luis A. and Varas-Fabra, Francisco and Rodríguez, Victoriano and Ruiz-Moral, Roger and Fernández, José A. and González, Jesús and Pérul, Carlos J. and Roldán, Ana M. and de Dios, Caridad",
volume="93",
number="10",
pages="1677-1684",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention program to prevent falls among the elderly as compared to a brief intervention. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: 11 Health Centers located in Córdoba (Spain). PARTICIPANTS: People over 69 years old, residents in the community. INTERVENTIONS: The centers were randomized to either one of the 2 groups: Intervention Group (IG), of a multifactorial nature (individual advice, information leaflet, physical exercise workshop and home visits) or Control Group (CG) (brief individual advice and information leaflet). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fall rates and time until the fall. Estimates of the relative and absolute risk of falls. Survival analysis and Cox regression. RESULTS: 414 patients were recruited, 133 in the IG and 271 in the CG. 33.1% in the IG and 30.25% in the CG had had some fall the previous year (p= 0.56). After 12 months, the fall incidence rate was 17.29% in the IG and 23.61% in the CG (RR=0.73; 95%CI:0.48-1.12; (p=0.146). 60.1% of the IG patients said they had increased the time spent on physical activity. In the IG, the incidence of falls at homes was 27.5% compared to 49.3% in the CG (p=0.04). Being a woman (OR=1.62; 95%CI:1.03-2.54), having a history of falls (OR=1.15; 95%CI:1.05-1.26), suffering acute health problems (OR=2.19;95%CI:1.09-4.40), and doing moderate exercise (OR=1.91;95%CI:1.08-3.38), were found as factors associated with a higher risk of falls. CONCLUSIONS: Although the reduction of falls in the IG was nearly halved, and after the intervention there was a significant reduction in the number of falls at these patients' homes, the multifactorial intervention program is no more effective than the brief intervention to reduce the overall risk of falls.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0003-9993",
doi="10.1016/j.apmr.2012.03.035",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2012.03.035"
}