title: Trail-walking exercise and fall risk factors in community-dwelling older adults: preliminary results of a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effects of a trail-walking exercise (TWE) program on the rate of falls in community-dwelling older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  This trial was conducted in Japan and involved community-dwelling older adults as participants.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty participants randomized into a TWE group (n=30) and a walking (W) group (n=30).
  
  
  METHODS
  Exercise class combined with multicomponent trail walking program, versus exercise class combined with simple indoor walking program.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measurement was based on the difference in fall rates between the TWE and W groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six months after the intervention, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of falls for the TWE group compared with the W group was 0.20 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.04-0.91); 12 months after the intervention, the IRR of falls for the TWE group compared with the W group was 0.45 (95% CI=0.16-1.77).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this pilot RCT suggest that the TWE program was more effective in improving locomotion and cognitive performance under trail-walking task conditions than walking. In addition, participants who took part in the TWE demonstrated a decrease in the incidence rate of falls 6 months after trial completion. Further confirmation is needed, but this preliminary result may promote a new understanding of accidental falls in older adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. yamada@hs.med.kyotou.ac.jp
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Buichi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Koutatsu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoyama
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ichihashi
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*