Evaluation of the Effects of a Cognitive-Motor Fall Prevention Program on Fall Risk Factors

Participants will be asked to perform the Trail Making Test part A and B (Reitan, 1958) following the instructions of the evaluator. It consist of connecting by making pencil lines 25 encircled numbers randomly arranged on a page in proper order (part A) and 25 encircled numbers and letters in alternating order (part B). A sample page including only 8 circles is made for training just before each 25 circle test page. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12). Execution time will be measured in seconds.

Participants will be asked to perform the Stroop Test Victoria version (Bayard, 2011) following the instructions of the evaluator. It consist of three pages each containing 6 lines of 4 items and each page includes an additional line for training. In the page 1 participant has to tell the color of 4 dots printed in color ink in left to right order and line by line ; in the page two 4 neutral words are printed in color ink and participants has to tell the color of the ink in the same order ; in page three 4 color words are printed in color ink and participants has to tell the color of the ink in the same order. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12). Execution time in second and errors will be measured.

Participants will perform a 6 meters gait measurement where they have to walk at self pace on a 10 meters corridor and time in second will be measured on 6 meters using photoelectric sensors. The first 2 meters are for reaching the pace and last 2 meters are to stop. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12). Spontaneous gait speed will be measured in meters per second.

Participants will perform a Choice Stepping Reaction Task (Lord SR & Fitzpatrick, 2001) : Participants stand on a nonslip black platform that contained four rectangular panels, one in the front one in the back and one to the side of each foot (up, down, left and right). A computer generates a stimuli (an arrow) indicating the direction of the target the participant has to step on as fast as possible. Choice Stepping Reaction Time that consist of time between the presentation of stimuli and the foot lift will be measured in second. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12).

This test is a part of the Senior Fitness Test assessment (Fournier et al., 2012). Participants will perform the 30 second sit to stand test, which consist of repetitively standing up from a chair as fast as possible during 30 seconds. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12). Number of repetition will be measured.

This test is a part of the Senior Fitness Test assessment (Fournier et al., 2012). Participants will perform the 2 minutes step in place test which consist of alternatively lifting the knees to an height given by the evaluator as fast as possible during 2 minutes. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12). Number of repetitions (corresponding of each knee lift) will be measured.

This test is a part of the Senior Fitness Test assessment (Fournier et al., 2012). Participants will be asked to stay on one leg standing position and the maximal time they managed to maintain the position will be measured in seconds. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12).

Participants will perform a 6 meters gait measurement where they have to walk at self pace on a 10 meters corridor and time in second will be measured on 6 meters using photoelectric sensors. The first 2 meters are for reaching the pace and last 2 meters are to stop. Participants have to walk doing the following cognitive tasks. An arithmetic task : Participants have to continuously substract 7 to a 3 digit number given by the evaluator giving results orally. Percentage of error in the cognitive task will be measured and spontaneous gait speed in meters per second will be measured. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12).

Participants will perform the "Walking Trail Making Test" (WTMT) Task (Alexander et al., 2005 ; Perrochon et al., 2014) on a 10 meters corridor and time in second will be measured on 6 meters using photoelectric sensors. The first 2 meters are for reaching the pace and last 2 meters are to stop. The WTMT contains three experimental conditions : WTMT-N in which participants have to step on numbers from 1 to 20 in ascending order ; WTMT-A in which participants have to step on the same numbers avoiding numeric distractors ; WTMT-B in which participants have to step alternatively on numbers and letters following ascending order and alphabetic order avoiding numeric and alphabetic distractors. Percentage of error and execution time in seconds will be measured. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1) and one week after the last session (Week 12)

Fall rate will be measured using a 6 month follow up. Participants will be asked to fill in an online weekly report indicates whether they had falls or not during the past week.

Participants will be asked to perform the different steps of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment following the instructions of the evaluator. This test evaluates multiple cognitive functions such as executive functions, memory, attention leading to a score between 0 (worse score) and 30 (best score). A score between 0 and 20 indicates a major cognitive impairment, a score between 20 and 25 indicates a mild cognitive impairment and and score superior to 25 indicates normal cognitive functioning. Measurement will take place one week before the first session (Week 1).

Fall Risk will be measured using a 7 items questionnaire (Bongue et al., 2011) leading to a score between 0 (best score) and 12 (worst score). A score between 0 and 3 indicates a low risk of falling, a score between 4 and 7 indicates a moderate risk of falling and a score superior to 7 indicates a high risk of falling. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1).

Using a self-reported questionnaire named "Physical Activity Questionnaire for the Elderly ", participants will be asked to register all the physical activities they had on the past week and the time allowed to each activity (De Souto-Barretto et al., 2011). The amount of physical activity will be measured in Metabolic Equivalent Task per minutes per week. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1).

Using a self-reported questionnaire named "Recent Physical Activity Questionnaire" (Golubic et al., 2014), participants will be asked to register all the sedentary behaviors they have usually each day and the time allowed to each behavior. The amount sedentary behavior will be measured in hour per day. Measurements will take place one week before the first session (Week 1).