Critical Appraisal of the Literature

Assessment Task 2

Critical Appraisal of the Literature

A. Student

123456

NURBN 1015

Federation University Campus

Clinical Question (based on scenario from Module 2 ALS): Do strength and balance exercises reduce the risk of falls in elderly people?

Arnold, C.M., Lanovaz, J., Farthing, J.P., Legg, H., Weimer, M., & Kim, S. (2022). Fall

arrest strategy training improves upper body response time compared to standard

fall prevention exercise in older women: A randomised trial. Clinical Rehabilitation,

36(7), 940 951. https://doi/10.1177/02692155221087963Discuss the relevance of the article (the importance of the information for your needs):

This article describes a research study that answers my question about falls prevention in elderly people. It is written for health professionals. The statistics and study method are described in detail.

Appraise the source of the information (authority):

The article is published in a peer reviewed scholarly journal by SAGE and is a member of the Committee of Publication Ethics. The authors are associated with the University of Saskatchewan, Canada and Mt Marys University, England. The main author has acknowledged funding from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation to assist with the research described in the article.

Appraise the accuracy of the information (the reliability, and correctness of the content):

The information comes from a randomised clinical trial conducted by the authors. The participants were elderly women recruited from the community. The research is well described, and the statistical results appear to support the conclusions made by the authors.

Identify the purpose of the article (the reason the information exists)

The research was undertaken to discover if exercises focused on upper body strength added to standard falls reduction exercises, reduced the risk of falls in the elderly.

A short summary of the content

Participants in this study were women aged in their 70s who were randomly allocated to exercise training twice per week for 12 weeks of either standard falls prevention exercises or Fall Arrest Strategy Training (FAST) standard falls prevention plus exercises, to increase upper body strength. The participants were strength tested in a range of exercises pre and post intervention (the exercises). The FAST group were found to have significantly increased upper extremity response time, which the authors believe could help to protect the participants from falls.

Word count: 283 (without headings)