title: Older people's perceptions of a multifaceted podiatric medical intervention to prevent falls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Falls are common in older people and are associated with substantial health-care costs. A recent randomized controlled trial of a multifaceted podiatric medical intervention demonstrated a 36% reduction in the fall rate over 12 months. We evaluated the acceptability of and levels of satisfaction with this intervention in the older people who participated in the trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants allocated to the intervention group (which included a home-based program of foot and ankle exercises, assistance with the purchase of safe footwear when necessary, and provision of prefabricated foot orthoses) completed a structured questionnaire 6 months after they had received the intervention. The questions addressed participants' perceptions of their balance and foot and ankle strength, the perceived difficulty of the exercise program, and the degree of satisfaction with the footwear and orthoses provided.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 153 participants, 134 (87.6%) attended the 6-month follow-up assessment and completed the questionnaire. Most participants perceived improvements in balance (62.7%) and foot and ankle strength (74.6%) after 6 months of performing the exercises, and 86.6% considered the difficulty level of the exercises to be "about right." Most participants reported that they were somewhat or very satisfied with the footwear (92.3%) and orthoses (81.6%) provided.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The multifaceted podiatric medical intervention used in this trial was generally perceived to be beneficial and demonstrated high levels of satisfaction among participants. Further research is now required to evaluate the feasibility of implementing the intervention in a range of clinical practice settings.
authors.affiliation: Lower Extremity and Gait Studies Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Hylton B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Menz
authors.forename: Martin J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Spink
authors.forename: Karl B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Landorf
authors.forename: Keith D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: Stephen R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lord
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001315:Australia; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D061826:Foot Orthoses; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010465:Perception; D011032:Podiatry / Q000379:methods; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D012775:Shoes; D016896:Treatment Outcome