Effect of the Adult Revitalization program on the occurrence of falls among its participants

Objective: To assess the effect of the first year of an Adult Revitalization program on the number of occurrences of falls, and its relationship with the evolution of muscle strength, flexibility and dynamic balance. Method: 94 individuals (79 women and 15 men) who participated in an Adult Revitalization program in Sao Carlos, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, for one year were evaluated regarding their hand grip strength, flexibility, dynamic balance and occurrences of falls on five occasions: an initial evaluation followed by four others at three-month intervals. Results: The women and the men experienced gains in flexibility and balance over the course of the program, but there was no significant reduction in the number of falls. Only women improved their muscle strength. The individuals who reported having fallen at least once during that year (28.72% of the participants) gained strength and flexibility, but their dynamic balance did not increase. In this group, the mean number of falls decreased between the first and the third evaluation, but increased between the third and the fourth evaluation, which coincided with the period of resting from physical activities. The individuals who did not fall presented gains in balance and flexibility but not in their hand grip strength. Conclusion: After one year, the number of falls among the participants in the Adult Revitalization program did not decrease significantly. Among the participants who fell at least once during the study period, the improvement in the number of falls occurred inversely to the improvement in handgrip strength and dynamic balance, but did not present any relationship with the improvement in flexibility.