fall risk and effectiveness of educational intervention program for elderly

2013 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22792268
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Community health/Gerontological nurisng
• Research Institution: Fukuoka Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: ONO Junko 福岡県立大学, 看護学部, 講師 (20432742)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2014-03-31
• Keywords: 高齢者 / 転倒 / 教育的介入

Research Abstract

We evaluated the effectiveness of educational intervention for community-dwelling older adults who had a high risk of falls. Support was provided to enable the individuals to recognize risk factors, and to implement and continue fall prevention in 3 areas: the living environment, which the person can be relatively easily aware of and improve; gait, which does not lend itself to self-awareness by the person but is an important risk factor for falls; and muscle strength, which is essential for improving gait. The proportion of subjects who implemented and continued preventive methods was 33.3% for determining risk factors in the living environment, 72.5% for gait improvement, and 78.5% for exercise to prevent decreases in muscle strength. The incidence of falls during the 3 months after the intervention was 7.8%. No significant differences were seen between those who had experienced falls and those who had not in the rate of implementation of preventive methods or the incidence of falls.