Effects of a complex intervention on fall risk in the general practitioner setting: a cluster randomized controlled trial

Figures & data

Table 1 Main intervention components and their frequency per group-based intervention

Intervention components	Month				Total
	1	2	3	4
Strength traininga	2	2	1	1	6
Challenging balance training	2	2	2	2	8
Functional trainingb		1			1
Gait training	1		1		2
Body awarenessc		1		1	2
Fall risk educationc		1	2		3
Home programd	1			1	2

Notes:

a Progressive upper and lower body strength exercises and stretching exercises;

b functional training included eg, getting up from the floor;

c addressing misconceptions about fall risk, attitudes about falls, thoughts and concerns about falling, negative and positive thinking patterns, and potential environmental fall hazards;

d brochure describing how to perform the strength, balance, and gait exercises safely and regularly.

Figure 1 Flowchart of the study.

Abbreviations: CG, control group; IG, intervention group; GP, general practitioner; T0, baseline; T1, after the intervention.

Table 2 Demographic variables of participants at baseline

	GP setting
	Intervention	Control
Participants (N)	222	156
Age, years (Mean [SD])	77.9 (5.9)	78.3 (5.9)
Female (%)	77.5%	72.4%
Living status (%)
Alone	44.1%	38.5%
With partner	38.7%	41.0%
Fear of falling at inclusion (%)
Not at all/sometimes	71.2%	75.6%
Often/always	28.0%	24.3%
Falls in the last 12 months (%)	53.2%	51.3%
More than four medications (%)	55.4%	55.8%
Comorbidities (%)
Osteoporosis	33.3%	28.8%
Visual impairments	41.4%	38.5%
Dizziness	50.2%	59.2%
Walking aids	32.9%	43.9%

Abbreviations: GP, general practitioner; SD, standard deviation.

Table 3 Results of the random intercept and random slope model for the short-term effects of the intervention on the secondary outcomes

Variable	IG – CG	SE	95% CI	Cohen‘s d	P (LRT)	Variable
TUG (s)	−1.46	0.51	−2.74	−0.19	−0.2	0.017*
CST (s)	−1.19	0.98	−3.64	1.27	−0.08	0.896
Romberg (s)	0.76	0.2	0.25	1.26	0.26	<0.001***
Fes-I (scores)	−3.7	0.98	−6.15	−1.25	−0.26	0.001**

Notes:

* P < 0.5,

** P < 0.01,

*** P < 0.001.

Abbreviations: TUG, Timed-Up-and-Go test; CST, Chair Stand Test; FES-I, Falls Efficacy Scale – International; IG, intervention group; CG, control group; SE, standard error; CI, confidence interval; LRT, likelihood-ratio-test.

Figure 2 Change in physical and psychological outcomes before and after the intervention.

Abbreviations: CG, control group; CST, Chair Stand Test; FES-I, Falls Efficacy Scale – International; IG, intervention group; TUG, Timed-Up-and-Go test.