Swimming and falling

Here are some sobering statistics.  

According to a study carried out in Australia by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among adults ages 65 and older, one in three experiences a fall every year.   And a study done by Dafna Merom, an associate professor of physical activity and health at the University of Western Sydney in 2014 which sampled 1700 men over the age of 70 during a four year period found that during this time nearly 2,700 falls were recorded.  That’s a lot of falls, and, potentially, a lot of injuries.

The loss of mobility, both temporary and permanent caused by these falls plus the cost of medical care required to treat them is significant, not to mention the impact on the confidence of the group fearing a repeat incident.

The aim of the University study though was to examine the effect of physical exercise and whether being more active could reduce the number of falls and, if so, what sort of exercise was best.

Of course anything that gets us moving, even in moderation has got to be good for us in terms of maintaining mobility and flexibility.  However, when comparing activities such as walking, golf, bowling, calisthenics, swimming and the use of stationary bikes and treadmills there was a clear winner.

Men who swam on a regular basis were 33% less likely to fall than their counterparts.

Further, and possibly even more surprising, was the fact that none of the other activities, including walking, seemed to have a significant impact at all on the overall fall rate.  (This is not to say that there aren’t significant benefits to be had from these activities but, if there are, they fell outside the scope of this study).

Why though should swimming be so beneficial?  Merom hypothesised that, because swimmers need to find their own centre of balance whilst simultaneously co-coordinating limbs at both extremities of the body, this would increase their core strength which in turn would increase the ability to maintain balance and stability out of the water. “There is reason to think that swimming works to prevent falls… [by developing]…strong core muscles which are necessary for good balance control”.

To look at this in more depth, a test was undertaken to measure “postural sway”.  A person was asked to remain motionless for 30 seconds.  During this time measurements were taken to calculate the degree of movement at waist level from the central position.  This showed that swimmers performed better on this test confirming their overall superiority in controlling their body.

The study was not attempting to compare and contrast all aspects of physical activity, merely focus on preventing or at least reducing the number of falls suffered by the elderly.  Although limited only to men, there is little to suggest that the results wouldn’t also hold true for the female population.

It should be noted that the research was merely observational and that a concrete link between swimmers and the reduction in falls would require further study.  For example, those men with higher levels of muscular control might be more drawn to swimming than others.  Nevertheless with an aging population, anything that can reduce the level of trauma caused by everyday falls should be recommended.  Swimming would appear to be an important tool in this battle.