The aging society with the growing population of people over 60 poses major challenges for the German healthcare system. Older people show changes in motor skills and physical fitness, which are also associated with a decline in cognitive performance. These age-typical changes are not only due to the biological aging process, but even largely to too little physical activity. The use of new technologies offers a solution in that an individualized training design with direct feedback can take place.
For this reason, the Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics, headed by Prof. Dr. Thomas Horstmann, together with the Prevention Center, has launched the project "CoFeT-FuLA" ("Effects of two computer-assisted and feedback-controlled training concepts on functional performance in the elderly"). The aim is to investigate whether a strength training program that is computer-assisted, feedback-controlled and includes a rapid strength component can positively influence functional performance with regard to fall prevention in older persons.
"Before and after the twelve-week study phase, various tests are conducted regarding body condition as well as physical and cognitive performance," explains Prof. Horstmann. "Here, for example, muscle strength as well as balance and coordination skills are tested using standardized and proven test procedures."
For the study, a total of 60 men and women between the ages of 60 and 70 were randomly divided into three equally sized groups. The first group performs equipment-based strength training and the second group performs stepping training, each twice a week as individual training. The third group serves as a control group and receives no intervention.
The measurements take place both in the Gym of the EGYM company and in the Prevention Center. As a service facility of the Department of Sport and Health Sciences, the Prevention Center offers services for such studies. On the one hand, consulting services can be provided in advance, and on the other hand, required measurements can be carried out. For the "CoFeT-FuLA" study, isokinetic strength measurement is performed with the ISOMED-2000, which is the gold standard for quantifying muscle function.
A training session of the equipment-based strength training consists of a warm-up on an endurance training machine for ten minutes. This is followed by training on the leg press, leg flexor, leg extensor, abductor, adductor, and calf trainer. The twelve-week training phase consists of four sub-phases of three weeks, in which the focus is on strength endurance, maximum strength, hypertrophy and rapid strength training.
The stepping training takes place on a 90 x 90cm instrumented platform. There, ground contacts can be detected and localized. The platform is divided into 90 equal-sized fields, which are labeled from left to right and from top to bottom with the numbers one to nine. In front of the platform is a screen that communicates the tasks and reports feedback on success or failure.
"We are investigating an interesting target group in the study, namely older people, who are at a higher risk of falling," knows Torsten Pohl, project and Research Associate at the Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics. "In particular, there is currently a research gap in rapid strength training in the elderly, which we would now like to fill. Our goal is to reduce the risk of falls in the end, which is of great interest especially for the increasingly aging population, as falls cause high costs in the health care system. In this respect, the study is also relevant for health insurers."
To the flyer: Subjects wanted - Intervention study: Training for functional performance and fall prevention
To the homepage of the Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics
To the homepage of the Prevention Center
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Horstmann
Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24460
e-mail: t.horstmann(at)tum.de
Torsten Pohl
Associate Professorship of Conservative and Rehabilitative Orthopaedics
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289
e-mail: torsten.pohl(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: Prevention Center/private