社區長者預防跌倒介入之成效

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a fall prevention educational program on improvement of physical function, and fall prevention knowledge, attitude and behavior among community dwelling elderly. The study design was a one-group pretest-posttest with purposive sampling. The total sample of 172 elderly were enrolled with an average age of 66.4 (SD=8.06) years old and 79.1% of female. Measurements included demographic data, physical assessment and a questionnaire of fall prevention knowledge, attitude, and behavior. Pretest was performed one week before the intervention. The fall prevention educational program contained 12 lecture sessions and 12 exercise sessions within two months. Posttest was carried out one week after the intervention program. The results showed that participants had better waist circumference (t=-2.79, p=.006), waist to hip ratio (t=-2.09, p=.038), squat down-stand up test (t=-5.55, p=.000), 20-meter walk time (t=4.63, p=.000), upper extremity flexibility (χ2=64.21, p=.019), timed up-and-go test (χ2=188.86, p=.000) and the one-leg standing balance test (χ2=37.81, p=.000). In addition, participants had significant improvement on fall prevention knowledge (t=4.41, p=.000), attitude (t=3.66, p=.000), and behavior (t=4.23, p=.000). Females had significantly improved fall prevention attitude than their counterparts (t=4.96, p=.027). Elders with spouse also practiced better fall prevention behaviors than those without (t=6.54, p=.012). Elders with a high school educational level (F=3.29, p＜.05) or without exercise habit (F=6.31, p＜.01) had significantly reduced waist circumference. Those without exercise habit had significantly improved their upper extremity flexibility (F=7.11, p＜.01) than whose without. Participants without fall experience had a better improved balance test (χ2=4.44,p＜.05) than those who used to fall in the last year. In conclusion, the fall prevention educational program can reduce the risk of fall among community elderly and further possibly achieve the goal of health promotion.