Randomised controlled trial of a tailored podiatry intervention to enhance mobility and prevent falls in older people

定制足病干预措施的随机对照试验，以增强老年人的活动能力并预防跌倒

• 批准号: nhmrc : 433027
• 负责人: Prof Hylton Menz
• 金额: $ 48.74万
• 依托单位: La Trobe University
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Project Grants
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2008-01-01 至 2009-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/randomised-controlled-trial-older-people/97486
• 关键词: Randomised; controlled; trial; tailored; podiatry

Foot problems affect 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 years and are associated with reduced walking speed, difficulty performing activities of daily living, impaired balance and increased risk of falls. Although a range of health professionals provide treatment for foot disorders, the most common chronic foot problems in older people (such as corns and calluses, nail disorders and toe deformities) are frequently managed by podiatrists using treatments such as scalpel debridement of lesions, foot orthoses, exercise prescription and footwear modifications. The 1995 National Health Survey reported that persons aged 80 years or over were most likely to have reported visiting a podiatrist in the previous two weeks, followed by those aged 65-79 years. Similarly, the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides podiatry services to veterans and their dependants, documented 606,706 episodes of podiatry care to 103,540 veterans in 1998-1999, at a cost of $23M. Podiatry therefore plays a substantial role in the maintenance of foot health and mobility in older Australians. Despite the detrimental effects of foot problems and the widespread utilisation of podiatry services by older people, very few studies have been undertaken to ascertain the efficacy of podiatry treatments. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of an individualised podiatry intervention designed to reduce pain, enhance functional mobility and prevent falls in older people. Given the high prevalence of foot-related disability and falls in older people and their associated health care costs, the study findings will be of considerable public health importance. If found to be clinically effective, the intervention could be easily implemented into a range of healthcare settings and adopted in both state and federal falls prevention policies.

65岁以上人群中每3人中就有1人有足部问题，这些问题与行走速度降低、日常生活活动困难、平衡受损和福尔斯风险增加有关。虽然一系列的卫生专业人员提供治疗足部疾病，最常见的慢性足部问题，在老年人（如鸡眼和老茧，指甲疾病和脚趾畸形）往往是由足科医生使用的治疗，如手术刀清创病变，足部矫形器，运动处方和鞋类修改管理。1995年全国健康调查报告说，80岁或80岁以上的人最有可能报告在过去两周内看过足科医生，其次是65-79岁的人。同样，向退伍军人及其家属提供足病治疗服务的澳大利亚退伍军人事务部记录了1998-1999年期间为103 540名退伍军人提供的606 706次足病治疗，费用为2 300万澳元。因此，足病学在维护老年澳大利亚人的足部健康和行动能力方面发挥着重要作用。尽管足部问题的有害影响和老年人广泛使用足病服务，很少有研究已经进行，以确定足病治疗的疗效。因此，本研究的目的是评估旨在减轻疼痛、增强功能活动性和预防老年人福尔斯跌倒的个性化足病干预的有效性。考虑到老年人中与足相关的残疾和福尔斯的高患病率及其相关的医疗保健费用，研究结果将具有相当大的公共卫生重要性。如果发现在临床上有效，干预可以很容易地实施到一系列的医疗保健设置，并通过在州和联邦福尔斯预防政策。