Lifestyle (LIFE) versus structured balance and strength training to reduce falls in the elderly: a randomized trial

70岁或以上的人中，每年有30%到35%的人摔倒。老年人跌伤给医疗系统造成的费用已经是道路伤害的两倍多，这一事实反映了跌倒造成的问题的严重性。据估计，如果我们不能找到有效和可持续的方法来影响老年人跌倒的发生率，这些成本将在未来30至50年内大幅上升，令人震惊。该项目的目的是提高居家居住的人们避免跌倒的能力。该项目将评估综合生活方式对平衡和力量锻炼(LIFE)的有效性，以及结构化平衡和力量锻炼计划对减少高危人群跌倒的有效性。对照组将包括一项温和的柔韧性锻炼计划，因为这对减少跌倒没有任何效果。在生活方式(LIFE)中，将教老年人如何进行平衡和力量训练，并将其融入到他们的生活方式中，以便将其嵌入到他们的日常活动和每周例行公事中。预计这种平衡和力量训练的综合生活方式将有效地减少跌倒，并将在一年内可持续。这项研究还将确定哪些人群的生活是最有效的。这项研究是一项三臂随机试验，将对381名70岁或以上的人进行，他们在过去一年中至少经历过两次跌倒或有过损伤性跌倒。相关保健专业人员或老年人并不能很好地理解平衡训练的概念--该项目的一个产品将是一种替代的平衡和力量干预(LIFE)，它以一种用户友好和简化的方式提供了一种将平衡和力量训练的原则付诸实施的方式，供老年人在日常生活中使用。

Thirty to thirty five percent of persons who are 70 or older fall each year. The magnitude of problems as a result of falling is reflected by the fact that the costs of fall injuries of the elderly to the health system is already more than double that of road injury. It is estimated that these costs will rise substantially and alarmingly in the next 30 to 50 years if we cannot find effective and sustainable ways to make an impact on the incidence of falls in older people. The aim of this project is to improve the capacity of people living at home to avoid falls. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated lifestyle approach to balance and strength exercise (LIFE) and a structured balance and strength exercise program to reducing falls in people who are at high risk . The control group will comprise a gentle flexibility exercise program as this is known to have no effect on reducing falls. In the lifestyle approach (LIFE), older people will be taught how to do balance and strength training and integrate it into their lifestyle so that it is embedded within their daily activity and weekly routines. It is expected that this integrated lifestyle approach to balance and strength training will be effective in reducing falls and will be sustainable over a a one-year period. This study will also determine for which groups of people LIFE is most effective . The research is a three-arm randomized trial that will be conducted with 381 people who are 70 years or over, who have experienced at least two falls in the past year or had an injurious fall. The notion of balance training is not well understood by allied health professionals or older people - a product of this project will be an alternative balance and strength intervention (LIFE) that offers, in a user friendly and simplified manner, a way of operationalizing the principles of balance and strength training for use by older people within their daily lives.