Improving Capacity to Reduce Fall-Related Injury Risk in Older Adults (FAST2)

Fall Arrest Strategy Training (FAST) is a unique, simple exercise program designed to improve one's ability to prevent injury when a fall is unavoidable. Women are more likely to participate in fall prevention programming than men despite risk of serious fall related injuries such as head injury similar in both men and women. The purpose of this project is to test differences between men and women's physical capacity to control the downward descent of a forward fall and prevent injury and to understand factors that influence participation of women and men in fall prevention programming. A total of 60 seniors (30 men and 30 women) age 60 years or older will do their regular activities for 12 weeks followed by 12 weeks of FAST training. They will be tested before and after for muscle strength, balance and their ability to land and descend in a simulated forward fall using a safe protocol in our lab. Group discussions among women and men after FAST will help us determine facilitators and barriers to exercise participation.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Fall Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Wait Control

Detailed Description

The purpose of this proposed study is to advance our knowledge of this innovative and simple training program, FAST, to determine if it has potential to improve the physical capacity to arrest a fall and reduce injury risk in older community-dwelling women and men. Using our novel lab-based energy absorption and strength measures, we will be able to compare fall-arrest capacity changes in older men and women.This study will also help to inform strategies to engage older men in exercise programming.

Research Goals and Objectives: The principal research questions of this study are:

1. Does the FAST improve fall arrest capacity in older women and men as compared to usual activity (wait control period)?,
2. Does FAST increase arm muscle strength, response time, mobility and balance control compared to usual activity? ,
3. Are there sex differences in fall risk changes, fall arrest capacity, and chance of head impact? and
4. Do men differ from women in their perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to participating in FAST? The hypotheses are that: 1) FAST will result in greater improvements in energy absorption, UE strength, response time and mobility compared to usual activity for both older men and women; however 2) men will demonstrate enhanced fall arrest capacity and 3) will identify unique barriers and facilitators to participation compared to women.

The study is a quasi-experimental pre-post design with a wait list control period where 60 men and women, age 60 years or older will be recruited to participate in FAST.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 78
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Saskatchewan
    • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 2Z4
      • University of Saskatchewan

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 60 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults aged 60 years living in the community

Exclusion Criteria:

• recent upper body injury or pain,
• recent or history of more than one distal radial fracture,
• history of upper extremity neurological conditions or conditions contradicting upper extremity strength testing or training,
• signs of severe cognitive impairment identified with the mini-Cog
• unable to safely ambulate independently in the community

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: FAST; 12 weeks of FAST, 2/week 45 minute sessions with half hour per week of education, same group of men and women	Other: Wait Control; usual activities
Placebo Comparator: wait control; 12 weeks of usual activity prior to intervention, same group of men and women	Other: Wait Control; usual activities

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Muscle strength dynamic	concentric and eccentric isokinetic dynamometry	12 weeks
Muscle Strength isometric	Hand held dynamometry	12 weeks
Muscle Strength isometric	grip strength	12 weeks
Muscle strength isometric	push off test	12 weeks
response time	signal to touch on force plate	12 weeks
Balance	one leg stand	12 weeks
Balance	tandem stand	12 weeks
Balance	modified clinical test of sensory interaction and balancer	12 weeks
Balance Confidence	Activities balance confidence scale	12 weeks
Fall Risk	Fall Risk for older people in the community-screen	12 weeks
timed up and go test	stand, walk 3 meters, turn and return to sit	12 weeks
chair stand	30-second chair stand test	12 weeks
gait velocity	timed 6 meters within 10 meter walk	12 weeks
fall landing capacity	energy absorption, force, elbow range of motion	12 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
physical activity	physical activity scale for the elderly	12 weeks
fall history	questionnaire	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Saskatchewan
• Collaborators: Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation; Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Cathy o Arnold, School of Physical Therapy

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 31, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): January 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 28, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): August 3, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 3, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2021
• Last Verified: July 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: University of Saskatchewan

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED
• IPD Plan Description: de-identified group data to be shared via peer review publication and on request to corresponding author

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No