Effect of ukemi practice in judo on fear of falling and mobility skills in healthy older adults.
Mayu Odaka, Hayu Kagaya, Takumu Harada and 3 others
PMID 36744201WHAT IT FOUND
Three sessions of judo falling practice did not reduce fear of falling in healthy older adults.
Timed up and go scores improved in weeks two and three, but this was not linked to reduced fear.
Key findings
01There was no significant difference in fear of falling before and after ukemi practice at any of the three weekly steps.
02Timed up and go (TUG) times significantly decreased in Step 2 (from 7.49s to 6.90s) and Step 3 (from 7.11s to 6.61s).
03No correlation was found between changes in fear of falling and changes in mobility skills.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study had only 10 participants, which is too small to detect meaningful effects or analyze results by gender. Participants were already active and had high physical ability, so results do not apply to frailer older adults. The intervention was very short (three sessions) and difficulty was kept low to prevent injury, which may have been insufficient to change fear of falling. Only immediate effects were measured; long-term retention of any mobility gains is unknown. The paper is listed as a Retracted Publication.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant improvement in Timed Up and Go times as evidence that judo falling practice reduces fear of falling. The study found no change in fear scores and no link between the two outcomes.