Falls and physical fitness of elderly people in the Senior Fitness Test evaluation
Journal Title: Rehabilitacja Medyczna - Year 2014, Vol 18, Issue 1
Abstract
Introduction: Falls of the elderly are a challenge because they contribute to disability, decreased fitness, and lower quality of life. a low level of physical fitness is one of the factors that can increase the risk of falls.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess physical fitness using the Senior Fitness Test (SFT) and to determine the relationship between the incidence of falls and physical fitness of elderly people living in private care homes. An additional purpose was to assess whether the level of individuals’ physical fitness was related to their sex.Material and methods: a total of 71 patients participated in the study: 41 women with an average age of 82.9 ± 5.49 years and 30 men with the average age of 81.8 ± 6.80 years. On the basis of surveys and medical records, the participants were divided into two groups depending on whether they had fallen (group A) or had not fallen (group B) during the 12 months preceding the survey. The Senior Fitness Test was used to assess the participants’ physical fitness.Results: People with a history of falls obtained worse scores in tests assessing individual components of physical fitness. In the group with a history of falls, men were characterised as having better aerobic endurance than women, while women demonstrated better upper body flexibility. In other tests, scores for both sexes were similar. The study showed a negative correlation between the measurements in tests assessing the upper and lower limb muscle strength, upper body flexibility and aerobic endurance, and the incidence of falls. There was no correlation between the incidence of falls and the flexibility of the lower body.Conclusions: Levels of all evaluated physical fitness parameters are significantly lower among the seniors who had experienced falls in comparison to their peers who had not experienced falls. Therefore, maintaining good physical fitness should become an important element of fall prevention. In light of the study, it seems reasonable to introduce prevention programmes that take differences between sexes into consideration. As a part of fall prevention, such programmes aimed at improving and maintaining good physical fitness among seniors should include flexibility and aerobic endurance training for men and strength training for women.
Authors and Affiliations
Jadwiga L. Kubica
Keywords
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