Prevention of fall-related injuries in long-term care: a randomized controlled trial of staff education. Export

@article{citeulike:397509, abstract = {BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries, a major public health problem in long-term care, may be reduced by interventions that improve safety practices. Previous studies have shown that safety practice interventions can reduce falls; however, in long-term care these have relied heavily on external funding and staff. The aim of this study was to test whether a training program in safety practices for staff could reduce fall-related injuries in long-term care facilities. METHODS: A cluster randomization clinical trial with 112 qualifying facilities and 10,558 study residents 65 years or older and not bedridden. The intervention was an intensive 2-day safety training program with 12-month follow-up. The training program targeted living space and personal safety; wheelchairs, canes, and walkers; psychotropic medication use; and transferring and ambulation. The main outcome measure was serious fall-related injuries during the follow-up period. RESULTS: There was no difference in injury occurrence between the intervention and control facilities (adjusted rate ratio, 0.98; 95\% confidence interval, 0.83-1.16). For residents with a prior fall in facilities with the best program compliance, there was a nonsignificant trend toward fewer injuries in the intervention group (adjusted rate ratio, 0.79; 95\% confidence interval, 0.57-1.10). CONCLUSION: More intensive interventions are required to prevent fall-related injuries in long-term care facilities.}, address = {Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics, Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA. Cindy.naron@vanderbilt.edu}, author = {Ray, W. A. and Taylor, J. A. and Brown, A. K. and Gideon, P. and Hall, K. and Arbogast, P. and Meredith, S.}, citeulike-article-id = {397509}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.19.2293}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16246997}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=16246997}, day = {24}, doi = {10.1001/archinte.165.19.2293}, issn = {0003-9926}, journal = {Arch Intern Med}, keywords = {falls, training}, month = {October}, number = {19}, pages = {2293--2298}, posted-at = {2007-05-30 16:22:35}, priority = {3}, title = {Prevention of fall-related injuries in long-term care: a randomized controlled trial of staff education.}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.19.2293}, volume = {165}, year = {2005} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:397509 L3 - citeulike-article-id:397509 N2 - BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries, a major public health problem in long-term care, may be reduced by interventions that improve safety practices. Previous studies have shown that safety practice interventions can reduce falls; however, in long-term care these have relied heavily on external funding and staff. The aim of this study was to test whether a training program in safety practices for staff could reduce fall-related injuries in long-term care facilities. METHODS: A cluster randomization clinical trial with 112 qualifying facilities and 10,558 study residents 65 years or older and not bedridden. The intervention was an intensive 2-day safety training program with 12-month follow-up. The training program targeted living space and personal safety; wheelchairs, canes, and walkers; psychotropic medication use; and transferring and ambulation. The main outcome measure was serious fall-related injuries during the follow-up period. RESULTS: There was no difference in injury occurrence between the intervention and control facilities (adjusted rate ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.16). For residents with a prior fall in facilities with the best program compliance, there was a nonsignificant trend toward fewer injuries in the intervention group (adjusted rate ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.57-1.10). CONCLUSION: More intensive interventions are required to prevent fall-related injuries in long-term care facilities. IS - 19 JF - Arch Intern Med SN - 0003-9926 AD - Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics, Department of Preventive Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232, USA. Cindy.naron@vanderbilt.edu EP - 2298 TI - Prevention of fall-related injuries in long-term care: a randomized controlled trial of staff education. VL - 165 SP - 2293 KW - falls KW - training AU - Ray, WA AU - Taylor, JA AU - Brown, AK AU - Gideon, P AU - Hall, K AU - Arbogast, P AU - Meredith, S PY - 2005/10/24/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.165.19.2293 ER -