- Title
- Modelling the population-level impact of tai-chi on falls and fall-related injury among community-dwelling older people
- Creator
- Day, Lesley; Finch, Caroline; Harrison, James; Hoareau, Effie; Segal, Leonie; Ullah, Shahid
- Date
- 2010
- Type
- Text; Journal article
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/38989
- Identifier
- vital:3761
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2009.025452
- Identifier
- ISSN:1353-8047
- Abstract
- Objective: To model the population level impact of tai-chi on future rates of falls and fall-related injury in older people as a tool for policy development. Design: An epidemiological and economic model for estimating population-level effectiveness of tai-chi. Setting: Australia, 2009. Patients or subjects: Australian community-dwelling population aged 70+ years, ambulatory and without debilitating conditions or profound visual defects. Intervention: Group-based tai-chi, for 1 h twice weekly for 26 weeks, assuming no sustained effect beyond the intervention period. Main outcome measure: Total falls and fall-related hospitalisation prevented in 2009. Results: Population-wide tai-chi delivery would prevent an estimated 5440 falls and 109 fall-related hospitalisations, resulting in a 0.18% reduction in the fall related hospital admission rate for community-dwelling older people. The gross costs per fall and per fall-related hospital admission prevented were $ A4414 ((sic)3013) and $A220 712 ((sic)150 684), respectively. A total investment of $A24.01 million ((sic)16.39 million), equivalent to 4.2% of the cost of fall-related episodes of hospital care in 2003/4, would be required to provide tai-chi for 31 998 people and achieve this effect. Conclusions: Substantial investment in, and high population uptake of, tai-chi would be required to have a large effect on falls and fall-related hospitalisation rates. Although not accounted for in this study, investment in tai-chi is likely to be associated with additional significant health benefits beyond falls prevention. This approach could be applied to other interventions to assist selection of the most cost effective falls-prevention portfolio for Australia and other countries.
- Publisher
- BMJ Publishing
- Relation
- Injury Prevention Vol. 16, no. 5 (2010), p. 321-326; http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/565900
- Rights
- Copyright BMJ Publishing
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- 1117 Public Health and Health Services; Falls; Health; Injury prevention; Exercise; Older people; Risk assessment
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