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OBJECTIVES: To investigate exercise effects on falls in people with dementia living in nursing homes, and whether effects were dependent on sex, dementia type, or improvement in balance. A further aim was to describe the occurrence of fall-related injuries.

DESIGN: A cluster-randomized controlled trial.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The Umeå Dementia and Exercise study was set in 16 nursing homes in Umeå, Sweden and included 141 women and 45 men, a mean age of 85 years, and with a mean Mini-Mental State Examination score of 15.

INTERVENTION: Participants were randomized to the high-intensity functional exercise program or a seated attention control activity; each conducted 2-3 times per week for 4 months.

MEASURES: Falls and fall-related injuries were followed for 12 months (after intervention completion) by blinded review of medical records. Injuries were classified according to severity.

RESULTS: During follow-up, 118(67%) of the participants fell 473 times in total. At the interim 6-month follow-up, the incidence rate was 2.7 and 2.8 falls per person-year in exercise and control group, respectively, and at 12-month follow-up 3.0 and 3.2 falls per person-year, respectively. Negative binomial regression analyses indicated no difference in fall rate between groups at 6 or 12 months (incidence rate ratio 0.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.5-1.7, P = .838 and incidence rate ratio 0.9, 95% CI 0.5-1.6, P = .782, respectively). No differences in exercise effects were found according to sex, dementia type, or improvement in balance. Participants in the exercise group were less likely to sustain moderate/serious fall-related injuries at 12-month follow-up (odds ratio 0.31, 95% CI 0.10-0.94, P = .039).

CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: In older people with dementia living in nursing homes, a high-intensity functional exercise program alone did not prevent falls when compared with an attention control group. In high-risk populations, in which multimorbidity and polypharmacy are common, a multifactorial fall-prevention approach may be required. Encouraging effects on fall-related injuries were observed, which merits future investigations.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of a high-intensity functional exercise program on independence in activities of  daily living (ADLs) and balance in older people with dementia and whether exercise effects differed between dementia types.

DESIGN: Cluster-randomized controlled trial: Umeå Dementia and Exercise (UMDEX) study.

SETTING: Residential care facilities, Umeå, Sweden.

PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 65 and older with a dementia diagnosis, a Mini-Mental State Examination score of 10 or greater, and dependence in ADLs (N = 186).

INTERVENTION: Ninety-three participants each were allocated to the high-intensity functional exercise program, comprising lower limb strength and balance exercises, and 93 to a seated control activity.

MEASUREMENTS: Blinded assessors measured ADL independence using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and Barthel Index (BI) and balance using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) at baseline and 4 (directly after intervention completion) and 7 months.

RESULTS: Linear mixed models showed no between-group effect on ADL independence at 4 (FIM=1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI)=-1.6-4.3; BI=0.6, 95% CI=-0.2-1.4) or 7 (FIM=0.8, 95% CI=-2.2-3.8; BI=0.6, 95% CI=-0.3-1.4) months. A significant between-group effect on balance favoring exercise was observed at 4 months (BBS=4.2, 95% CI=1.8-6.6). In interaction analyses, exercise effects differed significantly between dementia types. Positive between-group exercise effects were found in participants with non-Alzheimer's dementia according to the FIM at 7 months and BI and BBS at 4 and 7 months.

CONCLUSION: In older people with mild to moderate dementia living in residential care facilities, a 4-month high-intensity functional exercise program appears to slow decline in ADL independence and improve balance, albeit only in participants with non-Alzheimer's dementia.

Knowledge of risk factors for hip fracture among very old people is limited. Walking indoors with help from ≤1 person, Parkinson's disease, currently smoking, delirium in the previous month, underweight, and age were associated with increased risk of hip fracture and could be important for preventive strategy development.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study is to investigate risk factors for hip fracture among a representative sample of very old people.

METHODS: In total, 953 participants from the Umeå 85+/Gerontological Regional Database population-based cohort study were interviewed and assessed during home visits. Associations of baseline characteristics with hip fracture during the maximum 5-year follow-up period were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression.

RESULTS: Participants had a mean age of 89.3 ± 4.7 years; 65.8 % were women, 36.8 % lived in residential care facilities, 33.6 % had dementia, and 20.4 % had histories of hip fracture. During a mean follow-up period of 2.7 years, 96 (10.1 %) individuals sustained hip fracture. Walking indoors with help from no more than one person (hazard ratio [HR] = 8.57; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.90-38.71), Parkinson's disease (HR = 5.12; 95 % CI, 1.82-14.44), currently smoking (HR = 4.38; 95 % CI 2.06-9.33), delirium in the previous month (HR = 2.01; 95 % CI, 1.15-3.49), underweight (body mass index <22; HR = 1.74, 95 % CI, 1.09-2.77), and age (HR = 1.09; 95 % CI, 1.04-1.14) were associated independently with an increased risk of hip fracture. Hip prosthesis at baseline decreased the risk of hip fracture (HR = 0.37; 95 % CI, 0.15-0.91), but only for those with bilateral hip prostheses.

CONCLUSIONS: Seven factors were associated independently with incident hip fracture during follow-up in this sample of very old people. These factors could have important clinical implications in identifying persons at high risk of hip fracture, as well as in the development of effective preventive strategies.