The influence of assistive technology and home modifications on falls in community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review protocol.

BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries can reduce older adults' independence and result in economic burdens. The assistive technologies and home modifications explored in this review are suggested to reduce the risk of falls of community-dwelling older people. However, the location of the in-home assistive technology being used, and the in-home modification likely interact and influence fall reduction and injury prevention of community-dwelling older adults. This interactive effect is poorly understood. A better understanding of the impact of assistive technologies and modifications in the homes of older adults is needed to support the appropriate application of these devices. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review is to detail the contribution of assistive technology and home modification on falls, fall frequency, fall severity, and fall location within the homes of community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: We will source articles from 3 databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science Core Collection) and will assess them using a set of pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Reporting will be in accordance with PRISMA 2020. Two independent reviewers will screen each study at the title and abstract and full-text level. We are managing citations within the Covidence software. Data extraction and analysis will be reported in a systematic review. DISCUSSION: The outcome variables of interest are fall frequency, fall location, injury, mortality, and hospitalization. These variables of interest all relate to falls, their severity, and their locations in the home. We are seeking a better understanding of how these outcomes vary with the use of different assistive technologies and home modifications as reported in the literature. This will help us understand where falls occur which may inform how different assistive technologies can be used by community-dwelling older adults to prevent falls and adverse outcomes in different areas of their homes. Our review will provide a basis for more intentional prescription of ambulatory assistive technologies and evidence-based recommendations of home modifications. It may also inform adaptations to existing technologies to foster safer mobility in the homes of community-dwelling older adults. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: This protocol has been submitted for registration in PROSPERO CRD42022370172 on October 24, 2022.

Therapeutic effects of robotic rehabilitation on Neural and Muscular Abnormalities associated with the Spastic Ankle in Stroke Survivors.

Spasticity is a common ailment following stroke, which can cause pain, contracture, abnormal limb posture and functional limitation. Early management of post-stroke spasticity is vital to reduce these complications, and improve function and help patients become independent. We propose a therapeutic program based on applying a series of vibrations to the ankle joints at specific ankle position as well as over the range of motion using a rehabilitation robotic system to reduce the neural and muscular abnormalities associated with spasticity. We provided a 30-minute perturbation training, 3 times a week for 10 sessions for 8 stroke survivor subjects. Ankle stiffness was calculated using the hysteresis curves. Other kinematic and kinetic parameters were also used to evaluate the mechanical abnormalities. We evaluated participants before starting the therapeutic program, immediately after first session of training and after 10 sessions of training.Our results showed that all subjects had substantial improvements in stiffness, max voluntary contraction, energy loss, passive range of motion, and voluntary movement after both short- and long-term therapeutic program. Surprisingly, for most of these measures the maximum improvement obtained at short-term training. Interestingly, these improvements became persistent over the long-term training. These findings suggest that vibration therapy can be considered as an effective rehabilitation intervention to reduce neuromuscular abnormalities associated with the spasticity in stroke.