Performance
B · Reasonable confidenceNew this roundDo tailored falls prevention programmes help older people living at home?
Subject: Multifactorial and multiple component interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community
What this means
Possibly somewhat fewer falls (rate ratio 0.76) than with usual care, but no added benefit over falls advice or education, and uncertain compared with exercise.
Swarnalatha C, Wood L, Newell P, Clark CE, Adedire O, Clemson L, Sherrington C, Lamb SE · 2026 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 9:CD012221
What does this rating mean?
A solid systematic review with caveats, or consistent indications with a limited scope.
Findings
This Cochrane update pools 110 randomised trials with 48,919 community-dwelling people aged 60 and over. Programmes tailored to each person's fall risk factors (multifactorial) may reduce the rate of falls (rate ratio 0.76; 95% CI 0.67 to 0.87) and the risk of recurrent falls (RR 0.87) compared with usual care, with low certainty. They had little or no effect on the risk of falling at all. Compared with falls advice or education they gave no additional benefit, and compared with exercise the effect is uncertain. Programmes giving everyone the same components (multiple component) had little or no effect on the rate of falls.
Who this applies to
Community-dwelling people aged 60 and over. Not studied in people with stroke or Parkinson's disease.
Size of the research
110 randomised trials with a total of 48,919 participants.
What to keep in mind
Most outcomes have low certainty. These are group averages; an individual's fall risk is assessed by a doctor.
Practical conclusion for REZA
An extensive, tailored falls prevention programme is not automatically better than a good exercise programme: compared with exercise the effect is uncertain. For REZA this means strength and balance training remains the core; where someone has medical risk factors for falls, assessing those belongs with their GP.
View method and source
Methodology
Cochrane systematic review with meta-analysis (update)
Limitations
Certainty of evidence was low for most comparisons, due to risk of bias and large heterogeneity between studies (I² = 92% for rate of falls). People with stroke or Parkinson's disease were excluded.
Original source
DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD012221.pub3 · PMID: 42764178
View on PubMed →This information is general education about scientific research. It is not personal medical advice and does not replace diagnosis or treatment by a doctor or other healthcare professional. If you have symptoms, a medical condition or take medication, consult your GP or treating professional before changing your training or nutrition.