There is limited research on optimal exercise programs that effectively decrease falls and fall-related injuries in older populations. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed to explore the effects of a 12-week Judo4Balance program on falling techniques, physical and psychological functions, health status, and physical activity levels among 200 community-dwelling older adults (79% women and 21% men) with a mean age of 72 years. The 200 participants were randomly allocated for the Judo4Balce program (n = 100) or control group (n = 100). The RCT intervention started in mid-January 2020 and was abruptly interrupted because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A restart of the RCT was initiated in September 2021, and the 12-week intervention was offered to two groups. This study reports the results from three points of assessment: baseline, 20-month follow-up, and 12-week postintervention. At 20 months follow-up, the control group had significantly decreased physical activity levels (summer p = 0.002 and winter p = 0.003); similar changes were not seen in the exercise group. In the exercise group, learning falling techniques in 6–9 weeks led to sustained fall competence at 20 months follow-up. Further, significant improvements in physical function (exercise group p = 0.009 and control group p < 0.001) and learning falling techniques (p < 0.001 for both groups) were noted in both groups after the 12-week intervention. This effective, supervised, group-based, high-challenge multicomponent exercise program needs to be further evaluated for possible impact on falls and fall-related injuries.

Objectives: It is of utmost importance to investigate risk factors for falls and learning techniques for falling safely. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a novel judo-inspired exercise intervention for community-dwelling older adults. Methods: We included 28 participants, 60-88 years of age, in this study. In three different settings, the feasibility of carrying out a full-scale study was evaluated by the following: the study process, resource management and scientific aspects. The outcome measures evaluated were physical performance, fall related self-efficacy and fall techniques (backwards and forwards) among the older adults. Results: The intervention was judged to be feasible in the different settings used in this study. Some changes regarding duration of the intervention were suggested as being important. Significant improvements were seen in the selected outcome measures, physical performance (p=.030) and fall techniques (p=<.001). A corresponding difference was not found for fall related selfefficacy (p=.113). Conclusions: This study confirms the judo inspired exercise programme, Judo4Balance, to be a feasible intervention for active older adults. This study will provide a safe and thoroughly planned protocol for the planned study and provides indication of appropriate setting depending on the target group.

Background Falls and fall-related injuries are major threats not only for older adults but also for younger age groups such as working-age adults. It has been shown that it is possible to reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries, to some extent. However, interventions aiming at reducing both the risk of falls and mitigating fall-related injuries through teaching safe falling techniques are still sparsely investigated. The aim with this study was to investigate the effect of a 10-week workplace-based judo inspired exercise programme (Judo4Balance). The measures in the study include physical functions, fall-related self-efficacy and safe falling techniques. Methods A total of 142 working-age adults participated in this non-randomised controlled study. The participants were allocated to the Judo4Balance group (n = 79), or to a waiting list control group (n = 63). The mean age was 47 years (18–68). The recruitment period was from May 2018 to October 2019. A total of 128 participants were included in the analysis. Logistic Regression models were used to analyse the outcomes: physical function, balance and fall-related self-efficacy as well as falling techniques (backwards and forwards). Results At the 10-week follow-up, the results displayed significant differences between the two groups in all measurements, except for the fall-related self-efficacy with OR = 1.8. Techniques for falling forwards and backwards displayed the highest OR = 124.1 and OR = 98.9. Physical function and balance showed OR = 3.3 and OR = 6.4. Conclusions This exercise programme under study displayed significant differences in strength, balance and safe falling techniques between the groups. It is suggested that these functions, which were studied here, can effectively be trained in working-age adults by using the Judo4Balace exercise programme. Thus, it may be beneficial to further investigate and include training in proper falling techniques when designing fall prevention exercise programmes. Furthermore, it may be a novel way of addressing fall-related injuries, which are of utmost importance to prevent in near future. Trial registration NCT04294342. Registered 4 March 2020 - The Impact of Specifically Adapted Judo-based Training Program on Risk Factors for Falls Among Adults - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov