Abstract
Objective
To investigate the association between length of participation in Steady As You Go
(SAYGO) peer-led fall prevention exercise classes for older adults and 12-month fall
incidence.
Design
Twelve-month prospective cohort study.
Setting
Community settings.
Participants
Older adults (N=207; 189 women, 18 men) aged ≥65y (mean age ± SD, 77.7±6.6y) actively
participating in SAYGO classes.
Intervention
Peer-led fall prevention exercise classes.
Main Outcome Measures
Twelve-month prospective fall incidence data were collected by monthly calendars.
Falls in the previous year and number of years of SAYGO participation were obtained
by baseline questionnaire. Class attendance was monitored weekly by class attendance
records.
Results
Mean length ± SD of SAYGO participation was 4.3±2.5 years (range, 1–10y). Average
class attendance was 69%. Crude fall rate was .75 per person-year. Fall incidences
at 12 and 24 months were highly correlated (r=.897, P<.001). Longer SAYGO participation (≥3y) resulted in a lower 12-month fall incidence
(incidence rate ratio, .90; 95% confidence interval, .82–.99; P=.03) compared with a shorter duration of participation (1–2y).
Conclusions
SAYGO appears to be an effective fall prevention intervention with a high attendance
rate and a lower fall incidence with long-term participation. Prospective controlled
studies on long-term participation in peer-led fall prevention exercise programs are
needed to confirm and extend these findings.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
CI (confidence interval), IRR (incidence rate ratio), PY (person-year), SAYGO (Steady As You Go)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 06, 2014
Footnotes
Supported in part by the Physiotherapy New Zealand Otago Branch.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has conferred or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
