Taekwondo Program for Preventing Falls in Older Adults

Falls in older adults are a public health crisis, as 30% of older adults fall each year, with a mortality rate of 78%.1 Fall-related healthcare costs are over 50 billion dollars.1 Therefore, preventing older adults from falling is important in both individual and public health aspects by increasing their quality of life and reducing healthcare costs. However, the current fall-prevention exercise programs have a limitation in maintaining exercise adherence behaviors or increasing physical activities once the intervention is completed.2 The theory-based exercise program shows a higher adherence and retention rate.3,4 Taekwondo (TKD), one type of martial arts, can be a potential channel to deliver a theory-based fall prevention exercise program. Therefore, this study aims to test the feasibility of the potential 12 Taekwondo-based fall prevention exercise program for older adults and its preliminary efficacy using a randomized controlled trial.