Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effectiveness Of An Instructional Program On Decreasing Fall Incidents In Geriatric Patients With Psychiatric Disorders, Maurice Washington

DNP Scholarly Projects

Falls occur in 25% of older adults, resulting in over 8 million fatal and nonfatal injuries. In addition to the human suffering, associated medical and legal costs amount to over 50 billion dollars a year. This study examines the impact on fall rates of an evidence-based fall prevention program provided to a multidisciplinary staff on a psycho geriatric unit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Staff knowledge of effective fall prevention interventions was measured before and after their participation in an evidence-based instructional workshop provided by the Project Director using the Falls Prevention Knowledge Test by Dykes et al. (2019). While there were …

Evidence-Based Change Benchmark: Implementing Intervention Strategies Aimed At Reducing Patient Falls, Victoria Nix

MSN Capstone Projects

This paper provides an overview of an evidence-based change project that arose from the following PICOT: In patients at risk for falls [P], how does implementing fall risk prevention [I] compared to no fall risk prevention [C] affect fall rates [O] within 3 months of implementation [T]? A comprehensive review of primary sources dealing in clinical studies was found to support the case that fall prevention measures, specifically patient-specific bedside tools, have shown to be instrumental in reducing patient falls. The development and implementation of a robust Fall Prevention Program designed around the latest research was the goal; however, the …

The Use Of Video Monitoring To Decrease Falls, Marie Elizabeth Mo

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Fall prevention is a constant challenge for inpatient nursing staff. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate that falls in hospitalized patients will decrease with the initiation of video monitoring. A fall while in the hospital can lead to increased length of stay, increased cost to the organization, lack of reimbursement from Medicare, and the worst outcome is the patient never returning to baseline. Nursing staff struggle with fall prevention daily and are often unsuccessful. One to one sitters are often utilized as a fall prevention measure; this can be draining to hospital resources. Identified best practices of one-to-one …

Response Inhibition Deficits In Women With The Fmr1 Premutation Are Associated With Age And Fall Risk, Carly Moser, Lyndsay Schmitt, Joseph Schmidt, Amanda Fairchild, Jessica Klusek

Faculty Publications

One in 113-178 females worldwide carry a premutation allele on the FMR1 gene. The FMR1 premutation is linked to neurocognitive and neuromotor impairments, although the phenotype is not fully understood, particularly with respect to age effects. This study sought to define oculomotor response inhibition skills in women with the FMR1 premutation and their association with age and fall risk. We employed an antisaccade eye-tracking paradigm to index oculomotor inhibition skills in 35 women with the FMR1 premutation and 28 control women. The FMR1 premutation group exhibited longer antisaccade latency and reduced accuracy relative to controls, indicating deficient response inhibition skills. …

The Impact Of Fall Prevention Education For Individuals With Parkinson's Disease, Missy Ziegler

Occupational Therapy: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Abstract Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between an individual with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) perceptions of why falls happen and if receiving fall prevention education is beneficial to reducing falls. Methods: An anonymous survey was developed by the researcher in order to learn more about individuals’ personal experiences relating to falls, fear of falling, and fall prevention education. Surveys were used to identify if participants have ever experienced a fall and subsequently examine the relationships between falls and fall education. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to supplement survey results and gain greater insight into the experiences …

Evaluating Knowledge Of Falls Risk Factors And Falls Prevention Strategies Among Lower Extremity Amputees After Inpatient Prosthetic Rehabilitation: A Prospective Study, Susan W. Hunter, Jordan Higa, Courtney Frengopoulos, Ricardo Viana, Michael Payne

Physical Therapy Publications

Purpose: Falls are prevalent among people with lower extremity amputations. A knowledge of risk factors is important in preventing falls, though no research has evaluated patient understanding of falls in this population. The study objective was to evaluate knowledge of falls risk factors and falls prevention strategies at discharge and 4-months after inpatient prosthetic rehabilitation.

Methods: Participants completed a falls questionnaires with four sections: (1) falls during rehabilitation and after discharge, (2) falls self-efficacy using the Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale, (3) knowledge of falls risk factors, and (4) falls prevention strategies. Questionnaire responses were quantified using means and standard deviations …

Strategies And Challenges Associated With Recruiting Retirement Village Communities And Residents Into A Group Exercise Intervention, Rachel L. Duckham, Jamie L. Tait, Caryl A. Nowson, Kerrie M. Sanders, Dennis R. Taaffe, Keith D. Hill, Robin M. Daly

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

BACKGROUND: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) provide the highest level of scientific evidence, but successful participant recruitment is critical to ensure the external and internal validity of results. This study describes the strategies associated with recruiting older adults at increased falls risk residing in retirement villages into an 18-month cluster RCT designed to evaluate the effects of a dual-task exercise program on falls and physical and cognitive function.

METHODS: Recruitment of adults aged ≥65 at increased falls risk residing within retirement villages (size 60-350 residents) was initially designed to occur over 12 months using two distinct cohorts (C). Recruitment occurred via …

Incidence And Prevalence Of Falls In Adults Living With An Intellectual Disability Living In The Community: A Systematic Review, Portia Ho, Shane Patman, Caroline Bulsara, Jenny Downs, Max Bulsara, Anne-Marie Hill

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Review question/objective: The objective of this review is to synthesize the best available evidence to determine the incidence and prevalence of falls in adults with intellectual disability living in the community.

Walking-Induced Fatigue Leads To Increased Risk In Older Adults, S. Morrison, S. R. Colberg, H. K. Parson, S. Neumann, R. Handel, E. J. Vinik, J. Paulson, A. I. Vinik

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background- For older adults, falls are a serious health problem, with more than 30% of people older than 65 suffering a fall at least once a year. One element often overlooked in the assessment of falls is whether a person's balance, walking ability, and overall falls risk is affected by performing activities of daily living such as walking.

Objective- This study assessed the immediate impact of incline walking at a moderate pace on falls risk, leg strength, reaction time, gait, and balance in 75 healthy adults from 30 to 79 years of age. Subjects were subdivided into 5 equal groups …

My Independent Streak May Get In The Way': How Older Adults Respond To Falls Prevention Education In Hospital, Anne-Marie Hill, Jacqui Francis-Coad, Terry P. Haines, Nicholas Waldron, Christopher Etherton-Beer, Leon Ricker, Katharine Ingram, Steven Mcphail

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine how providing individualised falls prevention education facilitated behaviour change from the perspective of older hospital patients on rehabilitation wards and what barriers they identified to engaging in preventive strategies.

Design: A prospective qualitative survey.

Methods: Older patients (n=757) who were eligible (mini-mental state examination score>23/30) received falls prevention education while admitted to eight rehabilitation hospital wards in Western Australia. Subsequently, 610 participants were surveyed using a semistructured questionnaire to gain their response to the in-hospital education and their identified barriers to engaging in falls prevention strategies. Deductive content analysis …

Incidence, Risk Factors And The Healthcare Cost Of Falls Postdischarge After Elective Total Hip And Total Knee Replacement Surgery: Protocol For A Prospective Observational Cohort Study, Anne-Marie Hill, Gail Ross-Adjie, Steven M. Mcphail, Leanne Monterosso, Max Bulsara, Christopher Etherton-Beer, Sarah-Jayne Powell, Gerard Hardisty

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction:

The number of major joint replacement procedures continues to increase in Australia. The primary aim of this study is to determine the incidence of falls in the first 12 months after discharge from hospital in a cohort of older patients who undergo elective total hip or total knee replacement.

Method and analyses:

A prospective longitudinal observational cohort study starting in July 2015, enrolling patients aged ≥ 60 years who are admitted for elective major joint replacement (n = 267 total hip replacement, n = 267 total knee replacement) and are to be discharged to the community. Participants are followed …

Identification Of Functional Parameters For The Classification Of Older Female Fallers And Prediction Of ‘First-Time’ Fallers, Niklas König Ignasiak

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Falls remain a challenge for ageing societies. Strong evidence indicates that a previous fall is the strongest single screening indicator for a subsequent fall and the need for assessing fall risk without accounting for fall history is therefore imperative. Testing in three functional domains (using a total 92 measures) were completed in 84 older women (60–85 years of age), including muscular control, standing balance, and mean and variability of gait. Participants were retrospectively classified as fallers (n = 38) or non-fallers (n = 42) and additionally in a prospective manner to identify first-time fallers (FTFs) (n = 6) within a …

Circumstances Of Falls And Falls-Related Injuries In A Cohort Of Older Patients Following Hospital Discharge, Anne-Marie Hill, Tammy Hoffman, Terry P. Haines

Physiotherapy Papers and Journal Articles

Background:

Older people are at increased risk of falls after hospital discharge. This study aimed to describe the circumstances of falls in the six months after hospital discharge and to identify factors associated with the time and location of these falls.

Methods:

Participants in this randomized controlled study comprised fallers (n = 138) who were part of a prospective observational cohort (n = 343) nested within a randomized controlled trial (n = 1206). The study tested patient education on falls prevention in hospital compared with usual care in older patients who were discharged from hospital and followed for six months …

Determinants Of Balance Confidence In Community-Dwelling Elderly People, Janine Hatch, Kathleen M. Gill-Body, Leslie G. Portney

All PTHMS Faculty Publications

Background and Purpose. The fear of falling can have detrimental effects on physical function in the elderly population, but the relationship between a persons' confidence in the ability to maintain balance and actual balance ability and functional mobility is not known. The extent to which balance confidence can be explained by balance performance, functional mobility, and sociodemographic, psychosocial, and health-related factors was the focus of this study.

Subjects. The subjects were 50 community-dwelling elderly people, aged 65 to 95 years (X̄=81.7, SD=6.7).

Methods. Balance was measured using the Berg Balance Scale. Functional mobility was measured using the Timed Up & …