and Purpose: Little is known about the prevalence of falls and the related risk factors in patients who have undergone surgery following a hip fracture. This prospective cohort study aims to assess the relationship between potential risk factors and fall incidence in this patient population. There is an increased risk of recurrent falls and hip fractures in elderly who has suffered the first hip fracture. Identification on potential recurrent fallers at early stage is thus important for

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... g health outcomes in these individuals as well as reducing the economic burden on the public health care system. Methods: This was a prospective cohort study. Sixty-six older adults (age S65 years) who had sustained a hip fracture and were referred to Tung Wah Eastern Hospital for rehabilitation post-surgery participated in the study. After completion of the inpatient rehabilitation program, fall risk factors were assessed by using the Physiological Profile, and the guidelines on fall prevention adopted by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. Follow-up information on falls and related injuries was collected on a monthly basis by telephone interview. Mann-Whitney U tests (for continuous and ordinal variables) and Chi-square tests (for nominal variables) were used to compare the variables of interest between fallers and non-fallers. For those variables that showed a significant between-group difference, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to determine the optimal cutoff score. Univariate logistic regression analyses were then conducted to identify the odds ratio of each fall-related risk factor. Results: A new fall incident was reported by 8 patients during the follow-up period. Seven of them had one fall and one of them had two falls. Logistic regression analyses revealed that age (OR 5.7;95% CI: 1.05 e 30.87), ankle dorsi-flexor muscle strength (OR 7.235; 95% CI: 1.325 e 39.497), knee extensor muscle strength (OR 7.88; 95% CI: 1.438 e 43.139), visual acuity (OR 8.6; 95% CI: 1.564 e 47.303), postural sway while standing on foam with eyes open (OR 10.562; 95% CI: 1.228 e 92.397), Maximum Balance score (OR 6.67; 95% CI: 1.225 e 36.283) , were significant predictors of falls. In addition those who had received extended rehabilitation had lower risk of falls than those who had not received any extended rehabilitation (OR 6.36; 95% CI: 1.16 e 34.81). Conclusion: Advanced age, lower extremity muscle strength, visual acuity, standing balance were significant intrinsic factors that contributed to falls among those patients who had recently undergone a hip surgery following the first hip fracture. In addition, those extended rehabilitation also had lower risk of falls than those who had not received the same service. The results point to the potential importance of training leg muscle strength and balance in our rehabilitation programs, in order to prevent falls in this patient population. Background and Purpose: Associated reactions (ARs) may be a significant clinical problem if increased levels of muscle contraction in cerebral palsy are found to be triggers of ARs. The purpose here was to provide measures of ARs at varying force levels in people with hemiplegic and quadriplegic cerebral palsy compared with people with normal development. Methods: People with hemiplegic (H: nZ23, mean age: 21.7y) and quadriplegic cerebral palsy (Q: nZ15, mean age: 20.9y), and with normal development (N: nZ22, mean age: 21.2y) were recruited. The participants were required to follow step changes in a visual target with a response cursor via elbow flexor isometric contractions at a range of forces (15-90% of maximal voluntary contraction [MVC]). ARs were recorded when muscle activity of the non-tracking limb exceeded 5% MVC. A repeated measures ANOVA was employed to examine three factors: participant group, limb and force level.