MU Research Paves the Way for Older Adults to Prevent Serious Falls

The University of Missouri (MU) Center for Eldercare & Rehabilitation Technology has embarked on the Intelligent Health Sensor Research initiative, a project designed to explore fall risk among older adults in order to take preventive measures, reports the Columbian Missourian . The MU team has been recruiting older residents since early 2019 to analyze fall risk and other health changes, in conjunction with monitoring systems. MU scientist Stephen Sayers recently completed a study of the effects of lightweight, fast-mobility weightlifting on people older than 65. His team gauged fall prevention by strapping participants to a rope system, letting them drop forward and then arch a leg to prevent a fall. MU Professor Trent Guess said the team quantified the actions via motion capture and voltage sensors, and participants who performed high-speed training reacted 25 percent faster than the opposite group, and their legs reached out 25 percent farther. Sayers' study also determined that blood pressure was anywhere from 5 percent to 15 percent lower in the high-speed group, which plays a role in the development of heart disease.