Sad news on falls in aged care
The Medical Journal of Australia has just reported some depressing news about falls in nursing homes.
Researchers had hoped to find that increased attention to falls risks and the appointment of a full time project nurse to help aged care facilities, might reduce the incidence of falls.
However the researchers reported that despite significant increases in the provision of hip protectors and use of vitamin D supplementation in both intervention and control facilities, there was no difference in the number of falls or falls injuries between the intervention and control groups, nor a reduction in falls overall.
There was also no difference between the 7 month pre-intervention period and the intervention period in the number of falls or falls injuries.
Factors related to residents having an increased risk of falls with fractured neck of femur included being ambulant, having dementia, increasing age, and having a high falls risk assessment score.
They concluded “It is difficult to change falls risk among high-risk populations, including people with dementia”.
