Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up
Abstract Background Exercise interventions focusing on balance and strength training have been shown to be effective for falls prevention. The aim of this 20-year register-based follow-up was to examine whether long-term participation in recreational female gymnastics is associated with a lower risk...
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doaj-7beda0d53e7d4de6adcd4fe1a64c91732021-01-31T12:17:53ZengBMCBMC Geriatrics1471-23182020-02-012011910.1186/s12877-020-1428-0Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-upKirsti Uusi-Rasi0Saija Karinkanta1Pekka Kannus2Kari Tokola3Harri Sievänen4UKK Institute for Health Promotion ResearchUKK Institute for Health Promotion ResearchUKK Institute for Health Promotion ResearchUKK Institute for Health Promotion ResearchUKK Institute for Health Promotion ResearchAbstract Background Exercise interventions focusing on balance and strength training have been shown to be effective for falls prevention. The aim of this 20-year register-based follow-up was to examine whether long-term participation in recreational female gymnastics is associated with a lower risk of medically-attended injurious falls. Methods Health care register data of 187 women (103 recreational gymnasts and 84 sedentary controls) from the original cohort of 243 women were assessed. The mean age (sd) at baseline was 62.8 (5.4) years and the mean follow-up time was 19.4 (2.7) years (range from 5.6 to 21.0 years). Injurious falls were scrutinized from medical records. An injurious fall was defined as an event in which falling was mentioned as a reason for making contact with health-care professionals. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRR) for injurious falls, and Cox-regression models for calculating hazard ratios (HR) for injured fallers with the control group as reference. Results Recreational gymnasts had about 30% less injurious falls compared to controls, the mean IRR (95% CI) being 0.71 (0.51 to 0.96). The HR for injured fallers was 0.73 (0.52 to 1.02) favoring the recreational gymnasts. There were no statistically significant between-group differences for fractures. Conclusions Long-term recreational gymnastics appears to reduce the risk of injurious falls in old age.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-1428-0ExercisePhysical activityFallsFracturesOlder women |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Kirsti Uusi-Rasi Saija Karinkanta Pekka Kannus Kari Tokola Harri Sievänen |
spellingShingle |
Kirsti Uusi-Rasi Saija Karinkanta Pekka Kannus Kari Tokola Harri Sievänen Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up BMC Geriatrics Exercise Physical activity Falls Fractures Older women |
author_facet |
Kirsti Uusi-Rasi Saija Karinkanta Pekka Kannus Kari Tokola Harri Sievänen |
author_sort |
Kirsti Uusi-Rasi |
title |
Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up |
title_short |
Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up |
title_full |
Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up |
title_fullStr |
Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up |
title_full_unstemmed |
Does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? A prospective 20-year follow-up |
title_sort |
does long-term recreational gymnastics prevent injurious falls in older women? a prospective 20-year follow-up |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Geriatrics |
issn |
1471-2318 |
publishDate |
2020-02-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Exercise interventions focusing on balance and strength training have been shown to be effective for falls prevention. The aim of this 20-year register-based follow-up was to examine whether long-term participation in recreational female gymnastics is associated with a lower risk of medically-attended injurious falls. Methods Health care register data of 187 women (103 recreational gymnasts and 84 sedentary controls) from the original cohort of 243 women were assessed. The mean age (sd) at baseline was 62.8 (5.4) years and the mean follow-up time was 19.4 (2.7) years (range from 5.6 to 21.0 years). Injurious falls were scrutinized from medical records. An injurious fall was defined as an event in which falling was mentioned as a reason for making contact with health-care professionals. Negative binomial regression was used to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRR) for injurious falls, and Cox-regression models for calculating hazard ratios (HR) for injured fallers with the control group as reference. Results Recreational gymnasts had about 30% less injurious falls compared to controls, the mean IRR (95% CI) being 0.71 (0.51 to 0.96). The HR for injured fallers was 0.73 (0.52 to 1.02) favoring the recreational gymnasts. There were no statistically significant between-group differences for fractures. Conclusions Long-term recreational gymnastics appears to reduce the risk of injurious falls in old age. |
topic |
Exercise Physical activity Falls Fractures Older women |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-020-1428-0 |
work_keys_str_mv |
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