Introduction of a patients' participatory falls prevention plan

Abstract

Of falls that occurred at Kurume University Medical Center from April 2015 to March 2016, 78.7% were due to patient-related factors. We considered developing a shared risk and prevention plan for patients, families and nurses. As part of a patient participatory falls prevention plan, we evaluated the degree of risk based on a fall checklist completed by the patients and their families, and shared the risk and preventive plan in a patient participatory explanatory paper and fall prevention leaflet. Of newly hospitalized patients aged over 15 years, the intervention group consisted of 539 hospitalized in the three months from October 2016 who were introduced to the participatory fall prevention plan, while the control group consisted of 511 in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Analysis showed no significant difference in age, sex, or risk between the groups. A total of 18 (5.7%) patients in the intervention group and 16 (4.9%) in the control group experienced falls, and no significant difference in age, sex or risk was observed. Introduction of the patient participatory fall prevention plan did not lead to a decrease in the incidence of falls. It is necessary to examine intervention methods that take patient characteristics into consideration and to make long-term evaluations.