Effects of a fall prevention program with Ruesie Dutton exercises applied to a revised self-and family management framework on fall prevention behaviors among community-dwelling older adults with diabetes in Bangkok, Thailand: Randomized Controlled Trial 10.55131/jphd/2026/240217
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Abstract
This randomized controlled trial aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a fall prevention program with Ruesie Dutton exercises by applying a revised self- and family- management framework to improve the fall prevention behaviors among community-dwelling older adults with diabetes in Bangkok, Thailand. Eighty six community-dwelling older adults with diabetes aged 60-75 years were selected with multi-stage computer-generated random sampling. Then they were divided into experimental and control groups of 43 each. The control group continued living normal daily lives, while the experimental group participated in 8-weeks fall prevention program with Ruesie Dutton exercises. The program consisted of activities involving the fall prevention education, Ruesie Dutton exercises, fall prevent dressing, and handbooks. Additionally, the older adults received home visits and infographics about preventing falls were sent through a LINE group. Afterwards, the participants in the experimental group were instructed to perform Ruesie Dutton exercises with 7 postures over a period of 8 weeks. The instruments used in data collection were a demographic data questionnaire and a fall prevention behavior questionnaire. Pre- and posttest data were analyzed using descriptive analysis, independent t-test and paired t-test statistics.
The findings revealed that the experimental group had a higher mean posttest score for fall prevention behavior than the mean pretest score and a higher mean score than the control group with statistical significance (p <.001). The findings will guide healthcare providers in developing better ways to prevent falls among older adults in communities. Additionally, it will enhance family efforts to keep older adults with diabetes safe from falls in the future.
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