The Prevention of Fall Injury Trial (Pre-FIT) (ISRCTN 71002650) is the largest trial of fall prevention interventions conducted to date, and is designed to answer a question of substantial public health significance:
What is the comparative effectiveness of advice, exercise and a multi-factorial fall prevention (MFFP) programme on peripheral fractures among older people living in the community?
The PreFIT trial has recruited over 9,000 people from general practices across England. The target population was people aged over 70 years who live in the community, including those living in supported accommodation but not those in residential or nursing homes.
The Chief Investigator for the trial is Professor Sallie Lamb and the trial is being led by the University of Warwick. This work is funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme. More information can be found on the main trial website.
Selected Publications
Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community.
Gillespie LD. et al, (2009), Cochrane database syst rev
Prevention of falls in nursing homes: subgroup analyses of a randomized fall prevention trial.
Rapp K. et al, (2008), J am geriatr soc, 56, 1092 - 1097
Suitability of physical activity questionnaires for older adults in fall-prevention trials: a systematic review.
Jørstad-Stein EC. et al, (2005), J aging phys act, 13, 461 - 481