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On your toes & upright
Researchers find digital strength and exercise pay off nicely in preventing falls.
By Dallas Bastian
Stronger toes could help keep older people stay on their feet, new research suggests.
Researchers at Victoria University have looked at the effect toe training can have on the incidence of falls in older people.
Karen Mickle, postdoctoral research fellow at Victoria University, said toe strength is a greater predictor of future falls than many other risk factors, adding people with weak toes and toe deformities are twice as likely to fall over.
Mickle previously found that toe strength is about 20 – 25 per cent lower in older adults than in young adults.
“ I had identified that reduced strength of
the muscles that flex the toes is one of the strongest independent contributors to falls in older adults, yet despite this evidence, no previous research has investigated whether a dedicated exercise program designed to strengthen the toe flexor muscles can reduce the rate of falling in older adults,” Mickle said.
She has since developed a series of exercises using resistance bands to restore strength and found that participants who attended classes three days a week for 12 weeks increased their toe strength by an average of 36 per cent.
The exercises were also found to help with the general health and function of ageing
feet.“ If normal foot function can be restored in individuals who suffer foot pathologies, we may reduce the risk of falls and foot pain and therefore improve independence and quality of life,” Mickle said.
In a separate piece of research from Victoria University, experts have been studying the benefits of exercise parks designed to improve the strength, flexibility and balance of older adults, and results from the first stage of the study have been promising.
The research team used equipment manufactured by Finnish company Lappset and the park was installed at Villa Maria Catholic Homes St Bernadette’ s aged care in Sunshine North, Victoria.
Under the program, people exercise in pairs, using techniques designed to keep them active and help them cope easily with daily demands.
Among other equipment aimed at improving balance, the park includes a balance stool, suspended gangway and balance beam.
PhD researcher and exercise physiologist Myrla Sales said participants in the 18-week exercise group experienced improvement in strength, balance and function.“ We also concluded that using the park helps reduce the physiological risk of falling.”
Sales said the parks had the added benefit of getting people out in the fresh air and being social.
VU researcher associate professor Pazit Levinger said the findings indicate there is a case for a larger study. The researchers are now looking for partners for the design of the next trial.“ We would like to get councils, community organisations and aged-care bodies involved and organise more sites,” Levinger said. ■
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