A dance mat-style game that prompts players to step on different arrows prevents falls among older people, probably by improving their strength, balance and reflexes.
Our balance naturally declines with age, with falls being a common cause of serious injury among older people. Vision problems, muscle weakness and conditions such as dementia, heart disease and low blood pressure can also raise the risk.
To help prevent falls, at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, designed a game called smart卤step. This provides both cognitive and motor training by prompting players to step, at varying speeds, onto targets on a wireless electric floor mat.
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To put the game to the test, Sturnieks and her colleagues recruited 769 people aged 65 or over, some of whom had a history of falls. The recruits were split into three groups, and they all received a workbook on how to prevent falls.
One of the groups was also told to use smart卤step, while another was given an unnamed cognitive-based game, similarly designed to prevent falls, to play while seated. The groups were encouraged to play their respective games for at least 2 hours a week for one year.
Compared with the group that was just given the workbook, those in the smart卤step group fell significantly less over the year.
There was no overall difference between the group that played the seated game and the workbook group. However, specifically among those with a history of falls, those who played the seated game fell less often.
鈥淲e wanted to make the type of stepping practice that we know is important for fall prevention fun, and we were able to do that through a video game,鈥� says Sturnieks. Describing it as 鈥渁rcade-like鈥�, Sturnieks says smart卤step was designed to be an inexpensive and appealing tool for reducing the risk of falls from home.
Nature Medicine
