Trial reportThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2025
Rethinking the relationship between ambulatory activity and falls in long-term care: risk versus reward.
Trial report in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- A prospective analysis of falls in Parkinson's disease: Does physical capacity moderate the relationship between walking amount and falls rates?Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2026Article
- Safe Enough to Thrive: A Dignity of Risk Framework for Older Adult Mental Health Care.Sage open agingArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAmbulatory older residents in long-term care (LTC) have the highest risk of falling. However, the relationship between ambulatory activity (steps per day) and fall risk in LTC is unclear. This study examined whether baseline daily step count, functional capacity and cognitive function predicted falls in LTC residents, and whether functional capacity modified the relationship between step count and fall risk.
methodsTwo hundred seventy-six LTC residents from New Zealand-based Staying UpRight randomized controlled trial were included (age: 84 ± 7 years; 61% female). Baseline daily step count was derived from a lumbar-based accelerometer (3589 ± 2379 steps). Fall rates were calculated from facilities' falls reports (6 ± 18 falls). Residents were categorized as Moderate (n = 71) or Low functional capacity (n = 205) based on Short Physical Performance Battery scores. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment assessed cognition (15 ± 6). Quasi-Poisson generalized linear models explored associations between steps, cognition, and functional capacity with fall rates, including interactions between capacity and steps. The relative risk of falling and fall-related injuries was estimated between activity levels.
resultsKey results showed a significant interaction (P = .036), indicating that only the Moderate functional capacity group had a positive association between steps and fall rates. The Moderate group had a ∼23%-24% and ∼6% higher relative risk of falls and fall-related injuries, respectively, with higher activity, while the Low group showed a lower risk of falls (∼2.7%-3.9%) and falls-related injuries (2%-4%). Cognitive function was not associated with falls.
conclusionsFindings suggest that higher exposure to ambulatory activity is related to greater falls risk but not falls-related injuries only among residents with moderate functional capacity. This stratification should be considered when shaping falls prevention policies.
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Registered trials
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