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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Dement.
Sec. Dementia Care
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1456125

Concerns about falling in people with MCI and dementia: A scoping review of exercise interventions

Provisionally accepted
Erica Dove Erica Dove 1,2*Patricia Hewston Patricia Hewston 3Rosalie H. Wang Rosalie H. Wang 1,2Kara K. Patterson Kara K. Patterson 1,2Arlene J. Astell Arlene J. Astell 1,2,4
  • 1 University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  • 2 The KITE Research Institute, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 3 McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
  • 4 Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Concerns about falling (e.g., low balance confidence) increase fall risk in older populations with balance impairments. Exercise can improve physical limitations associated with falls (e.g., poor balance), which are more prevalent in people with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia. This scoping review aimed to understand exercise interventions targeting concerns about falling in people with MCI and dementia. Methods: Using Arksey and O'Malley's five-stage scoping review framework, 968 search combinations were run across six electronic databases from inception to September 15, 2023. Articles were available in English full text, featured original peer-reviewed research with an intervention study design, targeted people with MCI or dementia with the exercise intervention, and included concerns about falling as an outcome measure. Results: Of the 2,111 articles screened, 27 met the inclusion criteria. Only one article looked at concerns about falling as a primary outcome; in the remaining studies, concerns about falling were a secondary outcome. Multi-modal interventions (i.e., containing more than one type of exercise) were most common, with balance and strength as the most frequently employed exercise types. Secondary results are presented on (i) intervention details, (ii) outcomes and measures for concerns about falling, (iii) participant accommodations, and (iv) components of effective interventions for concerns about falling. Conclusions: There is a lack of focus on concerns about falling experienced by people with MCI and dementia. Although concerns about falling were not the primary outcome of most papers, the results highlight the potential of exercise interventions to help address concerns about falling and other fall risk factors (e.g., balance, cognition) in people with MCI and dementia.

    Keywords: cognitive impairment, older adults, Fall prevention, Balance confidence, Exercise

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 01 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Dove, Hewston, Wang, Patterson and Astell. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Erica Dove, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.