Authors: Wing Kwok, Saman Khalatbari-Soltani, Xenia Dolja-Gore, Julie Byles, Juliana Oliveira, Marina Pinheiro, Anne Tiedemann, Catherine Sherrington
This blog provides a summary of a recent study published in BJSM.
Why is this study important?
Falls are a recurring problem for older people, with more than one in three experiencing at least one fall every year. Falls can cause serious injuries, decrease ability to move around, and even prevent one from being able to do things independently at home.
The World Health Organization recommends adults undertake at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week. Previous studies, mostly clinical trials with short follow-up time, have shown that structured exercise, including balance and functional exercise, reduces falls. However, the long-term effects of total physical activity participation from mid-life to older age on falls are unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and describe different patterns of physical activity participation in women from mid-life to older age, and examine the associations between patterns of physical activity participation and falls when these women were in their early 70s.
How did the study go about this?
This study involved over 11,000 women in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, which surveyed middle-aged women every three years since 1998. Over 18 years, participants reported weekly levels of physical activity participation from three types of activities: brisk walking and moderate and vigorous-intensity leisure physical activity. When participants aged 68 to 73 years, they were asked about falls with and without injuries they had experienced in the past 12 months.
What did the study find?
We discovered five distinct patterns of physical activity participation from mid-life to older age. They are:
- Pattern 1: consistently lower level of activity and mostly below 100 minutes/week of physical activity,
- Pattern 2: consistently some activity but did not reach the lower limit of physical activity guideline of 150 minutes/week of physical activity,
- Pattern 3: decreasing physical activity and maintained above 150 minutes/week,
- Pattern 4: increasing physical activity and maintained above 150 minutes/week, and
- Pattern 5: consistently highly active and maintained ≥300 minutes/week of physical activity
We found that women reporting consistently low levels of physical activity without reaching the World Health Organization’s recommended levels of 150 minutes/week from mid-life to older age (Patterns 1) had a 35% increased fall risk when these women were in their early 70s.
What are the key take-home points?
Women who don’t stay active have a 35% higher risk of experiencing falls in older age. This stresses the importance of staying physically active from middle-age onwards, aiming for at least 150 minutes of activity each week, for fall prevention. There was no association between different activity habits and falls, particularly among women with consistently high levels of physical activity, even more than the minimum recommended level of activity by the World Health Organization.
In summary, this study’s findings support promoting ongoing physical activity participation of more than 150 minutes/week for fall prevention.
