edited by katie barnes. email: katiebarnes@leisuremedia.com research round-up


Training older people in martial arts could reduce injuries from falls, researchers from the Netherlands have found


of injury are sufferers of osteoporosis – a disease that causes a decline in bone density, leaving bones weaker and more vulnerable to breaking. Osteoporosis affects around three


A


million people in Britain, particularly older people. It’s the cause of around 230,000 fractures annually and, according to Arthritis Research UK, 70,000 of these are hip fractures – an area of particular concern for the elderly. To help reduce injury from falls among


older adults, health club operators might consider introducing martial arts training. Researchers from the Netherlands1


have


now shown the discipline to be safe for people with osteoporosis and, indeed, that its focus on how to fall ‘properly’ – including how to lessen the impact on the joints and protect parts of the body such as the hips – could cut their chances of suffering fractures or broken bones when they fall for real.


data collection The scientists from Sint Maartenskliniek hospital in Nijmegen based their study on six healthy adults aged between 23 and 44 years old. “For obvious safety reasons, this could not be directly assessed using people with osteoporosis,” says study lead Brenda E Groen. None of the participants had any


experience of martial arts and they received fall training for around two hours. This involved three important techniques – all possible for older people to learn – namely turning a fall into a rolling movement by bending and twisting the trunk and neck, using a neck fl exion to protect the head, and using an arm to stop the rolling movement. The participants began practising


falling sideways and forwards from a sitting position and then progressed to


bout 650,000 people aged 60 and over visit A&E departments every year due to falls. Those most at risk


fall training


Martial arts falling techniques could


help protect those suffering from osteoporosis


kneeling and standing heights. The fall exercises were performed on a 4cm judo mat or a 25cm-thick gym mattress. Each type of fall was performed for


at least eight trials and the force of the impact was measured by a plate embedded in the mat or mattress. The force of each fall was compared to known information about the amount of impact a patient with osteoporosis can withstand.


the results The results of the study, published in the open access journal BMC Research Notes, showed that impact levels resulting from sideways falls from a standing position were safe if performed on the judo


mattress. Front falls from a standing position were not safe at all, but were safe if performed from a kneeling position on a judo mattress. Based on the study’s fi ndings, Groen


says: “Since martial arts techniques which reduce hip impact forces can be learned by older people, martial arts fall training may prevent hip fractures among people with osteoporosis. “Based on our results, however, we


believe that fall training would be safe for people with osteoporosis only if they wear hip protectors during the training, perform fall exercises on a thick mattress, and avoid forward fall exercises from a standing position.”


1 Groen BE et al. Could martial arts fall training be safe for persons with osteoporosis?: a feasibility study. BioMed Central 2010, 3:111 54 Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital august 2010 © cybertrek 2010


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