<p>Effectiveness of robotics fall prevention program among elderly in senior housings, Bangkok, Thailand: a quasi-experimental study</p>

Abstract

Objective This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of a robotic fall prevention program on knowledge, exercises, balance, and incidence of falls among elderly in senior housings. Patients and methods This is a quasi-experimental study. Sixty-four elderly in two senior housings in Bangkok with Barthel Index scale ≥12, who had either at least one fall experience in the past 12 months and/or had Timed Up and Go (TUG) test ≥20 seconds were recruited and purposively assigned to the intervention group (received a small robot-installed fall prevention software, personal coaching, and handbook, n=32) and control group (received only handbook, n=32). Outcomes were knowledge score evaluated by structured questionnaire through face-to-face interviews, number of exercises measured by self-recorded diary, and balance score assessed by TUG and Berg Balance Scale (BBS). The incidence of falls was assessed by face-to-face interviews. Both groups were assessed at baseline, 3rd, and 6th month after the intervention. Results There was a statistically significant improvement in knowledge mean score at 6th month in both the groups. However, the intervention group showed faster increase in knowledge mean score than the control group at 3rd month ( P <0.01). The intervention group showed a statistically significant higher number of exercises than the control group at 3rd and 6th month ( P <0.05). There was no statistically significant difference on TUG and BBS mean scores between the two groups at baseline, 3rd, and 6th month. However, the intervention group showed a statistically significant improvement in TUG and BBS at 6th month post-intervention ( P <0.01). There was one fall reported in the control group. Conclusion The robotic fall prevention program increased knowledge on fall prevention and promoted exercises and balance among elderly in senior housings.

eHealth for Addressing Balance Disorders in the Elderly: Systematic Review

“…Twelve of these studies used the same group of participants [ 66 , 68 - 77 , 79 ]. One study used two groups with different participants [ 67 ] and another had a control group and an intervention group [ 78 ]. However, the expected similarity between the groups was not clear because there was no description of the clinical conditions of the participants, including function of the inner ear.…”

“…No instrumental test of the inner ear was performed as a gold-standard test. All RCTs [ 59 - 65 ] and two QESs [ 67 , 78 ] were focused on balance treatment or rehabilitation ( Table 6 ). Again, no instrumental test of the inner ear was used in pre and postrehabilitation assessments.…”

“…The participants (≥60 years old) were recruited from the community [ 60 - 62 , 64 , 65 , 67 - 70 , 72 - 74 , 76 , 77 ], gerontology services [ 71 , 75 , 78 ], both [ 59 , 79 ], or at a hospital [ 66 ]. One study included participants who were referred for geriatric inpatient rehabilitation [ 63 ].…”

“…Most of the studies did not describe the characteristics of health conditions of the sample [ 59 , 62 , 64 - 66 , 68 - 72 , 74 - 77 , 79 ]. Only some authors provided quantitative data about the participants’ medication use [ 60 , 61 , 73 , 78 ] and their comorbidities [ 60 , 61 , 63 , 67 , 73 , 78 ]. One study [ 60 ] highlighted the following comorbidities of the participants: heart problems, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, lower back pain, hip pain, knee and/or leg pain, and foot pain.…”

“…The identification of faller participants based on retrospective [ 68 , 70 , 73 , 76 ] or prospective occurrence of falling [ 74 ] was employed to compare the technology results. The benefits of virtual training in reducing the risk of falling was also described [ 60 , 61 , 65 , 78 ].…”