Home-Delivered Meals and Risk of Self-Reported Falls: Results From a Randomized Trial

Overview

Journal J Appl Gerontol

Specialties Geriatrics
Infectious Diseases

Date 2016 Nov 1

PMID 27798291

Citations 12

Authors

Kali S Thomas

Ravi B Parikh

Andrew R Zullo

David Dosa

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether home-delivered meals, and the frequency of delivery, reduces self-reported falls among homebound older adults. Data come from a randomized parallel three-arm study of 371 older adults on seven Meals on Wheels programs' waiting lists. Participants were randomly assigned to receive (a) daily meal delivery ( n = 139); (b) once weekly, frozen meal delivery ( n = 106); or (c) control, remain on the waiting list for meals ( n = 126). Participants were surveyed at baseline and 15 weeks post randomization. At follow-up, 36 (28.6%) in the control group, 29 (27.4%) receiving once weekly delivered meals, and 33 (23.7%) receiving daily delivered meals reported a fall (compared with control, daily meal risk ratio [RR] = 0.83, 95% confidence limits [CL] = [0.55, 1.25]; frozen meal RR = 0.96, 95%CL = [0.63, 1.45]). Our study suggests that daily delivered meals may reduce the risk of falls. Additional work is needed to understand the effect of meals on falls, particularly among previous fallers, a high-risk subgroup.

Citing Articles

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Thomas K, Bernard K, Clark M, Dionne L, Fisher A, Gadbois E Trials. 2024; 25(1):787.

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Home-Delivered Meals and Nursing Home Placement Among People With Self-Reported Dementia: A Pilot Pragmatic Clinical Trial.

Thomas K, Bunker J, Gadbois E, Hilgeman M, McCreedy E, Mills W JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(12):e2347195.

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Environmental interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community.

Clemson L, Stark S, Pighills A, Fairhall N, Lamb S, Ali J Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023; 3:CD013258.

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Strategies for implementing the interRAI home care frailty scale with home-delivered meal clients.

Juckett L, Oliver H, Hariharan G, Bunck L, Devier A Front Public Health. 2023; 11:1022735.

PMID: 36755903 PMC: 9900681. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1022735.

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