Fall incidents are the third cause of chronic disability in the elderly, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recent reviews demonstrate that multifactorial and multicomponent intervention programs are effective in preventing falls in community-dwelling older adults. However, the application of these programs may not be accessible to a large part of the elderly population. The lack of continuity in the treatment of the consequences of falls, as well as the dissemination of prevention measures for this patient profile, could be minimized through the use of information and communication technologies. Method: This will be a randomized clinical trial that aims to evaluate the effects of two fall prevention strategies via telerehabilitation for elderly fallers after admission to an emergency room. It will be carried out by a multidisciplinary team with interventions for eight weeks and monitoring of outcomes over a period of four months. Patients will be evaluated regarding aspects of functionality in the second and month after the interventions and regarding the recurrence of falls during the four-month period. Discussion: The hypothesis is that the programs are viable in terms of accessibility to home training. However, to date, there is no evidence about the differences between these forms of interventions to prevent falls via telecare.
To compare the effects of two different strategies for preventing falls through telerehabilitation for elderly fallers after admission to an emergency room.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
20
An individual exercise program will be carried out at home, supervised remotely via videoconference.
Hospital de Pronto Socorro
Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Rate of Falls
After the intervention periods, participants will be followed for another 16 weeks. Every week, recurrences of falls will be recorded via telephone calls. You will be asked whether there were falls in the period
Time frame: four months
Concern of falls
The assessment will consist of Self-efficacy tests for Falls
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Balance
The assessment will consist of Timed-Up and Go test
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Arms Muscle strength
Palm Grip Strength
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Legs Muscle strength
Sitting and Rising from a Chair tests
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Functionality
Katz Index on elderly functionality evaluation for the analysis of basic activities
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
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