In this area , there are examples of good and moderate quality studies which confirm the cost-effectiveness of diverse physical activity interventions in fall prevention .
Background Healthy ageing and health promotion ( HP ) actions for older people have become an important health sector priority .
At the same time , the application of economic evaluation methods in the field of health interventions in order to support allocative decision processes is of growing importance .
The aims of the review were to analyze what the existing evidence is on cost-effectiveness of HP and /or primary prevention ( PP ) programmes for older people whilst providing deeper insight into method ological aspects of such studies , their overall quality and issues related to practical implementation of results .
Economic evaluation of a community based exercise programme to prevent falls
OBJECTIVE To assess the incremental costs and cost effectiveness of implementing a home based muscle strengthening and balance retraining programme that reduced falls and injuries in older women . DESIGN An economic evaluation carried out within a r and omised controlled trial with two years of follow up . Participants were individually prescribed an exercise programme ( exercise group , n=116 ) or received usual care and social visits ( control group , n=117 ) . SETTING 17 general practice s in Dunedin , New Zeal and . PARTICIPANTS Women aged 80 years and older living in the community and invited by their general practitioner to take part . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Number of falls and injuries related to falls , costs of implementing the intervention , healthcare service costs result ing from falls and total healthcare service costs during the trial . Cost effectiveness was measured as the incremental cost of implementing the exercise programme per fall event prevented . MAIN RESULTS 27 % of total hospital costs during the trial were related to falls . However , there were no significant differences in health service costs between the two groups . Implementing the exercise programme for one and two years respectively cost $ 314 and $ 265 ( 1995 New Zeal and dollars ) per fall prevented , and $ 457 and $ 426 per fall result ing in a moderate or serious injury prevented . CONCLUSIONS The costs result ing from falls make up a substantial proportion of the hospital costs for older people . Despite a reduction in falls as a result of this home exercise programme there was no significant reduction in healthcare costs . However , the results reported will provide information on the cost effectiveness of the programme for those making decisions on falls prevention strategies
In this area , there are examples of good and moderate quality studies which confirm the cost-effectiveness of diverse physical activity interventions in fall prevention .
Background Healthy ageing and health promotion ( HP ) actions for older people have become an important health sector priority .
At the same time , the application of economic evaluation methods in the field of health interventions in order to support allocative decision processes is of growing importance .
The aims of the review were to analyze what the existing evidence is on cost-effectiveness of HP and /or primary prevention ( PP ) programmes for older people whilst providing deeper insight into method ological aspects of such studies , their overall quality and issues related to practical implementation of results .