OBJECTIVES:Falls and fear of falling are a major health problem. We sought to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention in reducing fear of falling and preventing recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients after a fragility fracture. METHODS:One hundred two community-dwelling patients aged 50 years or older who fell and sustained a wrist fracture and were treated at Emergency Departments in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2001-2002) were allocated to either standardized educational leaflets and post-discharge telephone counseling regarding fall prevention strategies ("intervention") or attention-controls ("controls"). Main outcomes were fear of falling and recurrent falls 3 months after fracture. RESULTS:Mean age was 67 years and most patients were female (80%). The majority of falls (76%) leading to fracture occurred outdoors. Three months post-fracture, almost half of patients (48%) reported increased fear of falling and 11 of 102 (11%) reported falling again. The intervention did not reduce the fear of falling (43% had increased fear vs. 53% of controls, adjusted P value=0.55) or decrease recurrent falls (17% fell vs. 5% of controls, adjusted P value=0.059) within 3 months of fracture. CONCLUSIONS: An educational intervention undertaken in the Emergency Department was no more effective than usual care in reducing fear of falling or recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients. Future strategies must address a number of dimensions beyond simple education.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: Falls and fear of falling are a major health problem. We sought to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention in reducing fear of falling and preventing recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients after a fragility fracture. METHODS: One hundred two community-dwelling patients aged 50 years or older who fell and sustained a wrist fracture and were treated at Emergency Departments in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2001-2002) were allocated to either standardized educational leaflets and post-discharge telephone counseling regarding fall prevention strategies ("intervention") or attention-controls ("controls"). Main outcomes were fear of falling and recurrent falls 3 months after fracture. RESULTS: Mean age was 67 years and most patients were female (80%). The majority of falls (76%) leading to fracture occurred outdoors. Three months post-fracture, almost half of patients (48%) reported increased fear of falling and 11 of 102 (11%) reported falling again. The intervention did not reduce the fear of falling (43% had increased fear vs. 53% of controls, adjusted P value=0.55) or decrease recurrent falls (17% fell vs. 5% of controls, adjusted P value=0.059) within 3 months of fracture. CONCLUSIONS: An educational intervention undertaken in the Emergency Department was no more effective than usual care in reducing fear of falling or recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients. Future strategies must address a number of dimensions beyond simple education.
Authors: Jeffrey A Johnson; Fatima Al Sayah; Lisa Wozniak; Sandra Rees; Allison Soprovich; Constance L Chik; Pierre Chue; Peter Florence; Jennifer Jacquier; Pauline Lysak; Andrea Opgenorth; Wayne J Katon; Sumit R Majumdar Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2012-08-16 Impact factor: 2.655
Authors: Lesley D Gillespie; M Clare Robertson; William J Gillespie; Catherine Sherrington; Simon Gates; Lindy M Clemson; Sarah E Lamb Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2012-09-12
Authors: P M Ciaschini; S E Straus; L R Dolovich; R A Goeree; K M Leung; C R Woods; G M Zimmerman; S R Majumdar; S Spadafora; L A Fera; H N Lee Journal: Trials Date: 2008-11-04 Impact factor: 2.279
Authors: Sarah E Lamb; Joanne D Fisher; Simon Gates; Rachel Potter; Matthew W Cooke; Yvonne H Carter Journal: BMC Health Serv Res Date: 2008-11-12 Impact factor: 2.655
Authors: Joanna E M Sale; Monique Gignac; Lucy Frankel; Stephen Thielke; Earl Bogoch; Victoria Elliot-Gibson; Gillian Hawker; Larry Funnell Journal: Health Expect Date: 2021-09-27 Impact factor: 3.377