TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2006//
TI  - Educational intervention to reduce falls and fear of falling in patients after fragility fracture: Results of a controlled pilot study
JO  - Preventive medicine
A1  - Majumdar, Sumit R.
A1  - Wirzba, Brian J.
A1  - Holroyd, B. R.
A1  - Maksymowych, Walter P.
A1  - Hanley, David A.
A1  - Russell, Anthony S.
A1  - Steiner, Ivan P.
A1  - Johnson, J. A.
A1  - Rowe, Brian H.
A1  - Rucker, Diana
A1  - Harley, Charles H.
A1  - Morrish, Donald W.
SP  - 316
EP  - 319
VL  - 42
IS  - 4
N2  - 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.
LA  - 
SN  - 0091-7435
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.01.008
ID  - ref1
ER  -