A dual-task program may ease limits in fall-risk retirement residents
Training yielded a 1.77-point net benefit in physical functioning versus usual care at six months, with no sustained quality-of-life benefits.
300 residents
Limit: Participants who withdrew had worse baseline quality of life, leaving a selectively healthier sample
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A cluster randomized trial enrolled 300 adults (81 men, 219 women), aged 65–96 and at elevated fall risk, from 22 Australian independent-living retirement communities. This secondary analysis compared usual care with fast strength exercises combined with thinking or movement tasks. Training involved two weekly 45–60-minute sessions for six months, six months of reduced support, then six months of follow-up.
At six months, exercise improved self-reported physical functioning and reduced daily limitations from physical or emotional problems. Benefits did not persist, and life satisfaction did not improve. The usual-care group had lower anxiety scores at 12 and 18 months. Attendance averaged 50% during supervised training and 40% during maintenance. During supervised training, 12 of 155 exercise participants reported 14 health complaints: four related, seven possibly related and three unrelated to exercise. Maintenance brought two possibly related mild events. Nobody withdrew because of injury.
Why it matters
For older adults at risk of falls, the question was whether combining physical and mental tasks could improve everyday well-being, beyond the trial’s original focus on falls.
Caveats
The analysis tested many questionnaire outcomes without adjusting for multiple comparisons; 227 participants provided 18-month data, and accounting for missing data supported only one six-month quality-of-life benefit. The findings do not cover people unable to walk 50 meters with minimal assistance or those with excluded conditions such as unstable heart or lung disease.
From the paper
- Participants
A total of 300 older adults (81 men and 219 women) were recruited from 22 retirement living communities (villages) across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, Australia.
- Who took part
Therefore, this secondary analysis of an 18-month cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) aimed to examine whether a 12-month dual-task functional power training (DT-FPT) program could improve psychosocial well-being (HR-QoL, SWL, and psychological distress [symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress]) compared to usual care in older adults at risk of falls living independently in retirement living communities …
- Ages
As reported previously, 300 men and women aged 65 to 96 years (mean ± SD; 77.4 ± 6.8) were recruited across 22 retirement living communities.
- Duration
Villages allocated to the exercise program completed two supervised group sessions each week, each lasting 45–60 min with 8–10 participants per group, delivered on non-consecutive days for 6 months.
- Result
… DT-FPT participants experienced an estimated mean net benefit for the domains of physical functioning (1.77 points [95% CI: 0.03, 3.51]; p =.047), role-physical (2.71 points [95% CI: 0.35, 5.08]; p =.025), role-emotional (2.25 points [95% CI: 0.09, 4.40]; p =.041) …
Results, Health-related quality of life and satisfaction with life
- Physical functioning
In the fully-adjusted model (Model 2), after 6 months, DT-FPT participants experienced an estimated mean net benefit for the domains of physical functioning (1.77 points [95% CI: 0.03, 3.51]; p =.047), role-physical (2.71 points [95% CI: 0.35, 5.08]; p =.025), role-emotional (2.25 points [95% CI: 0.09, 4.40]; p =.041), and a trend for benefits for global HR-QoL (p =.069 …
Results, Health-related quality of life and satisfaction with life
- Health-related quality of life
… and a trend for benefits for global HR-QoL (p =.069 …
Results, Health-related quality of life and satisfaction with life
Quoted word for word from the full text on PubMed Central.
The paper
Deakin University
The Journals of Gerontology, Series B, Jul 14, 2026, Open access
