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Journal ArticleDOI

Home visits by an occupational therapist for assessment and modification of environmental hazards: a randomized trial of falls prevention.

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TLDR
To determine whether occupational therapist home visits targeted at environmental hazards reduce the risk of falls, a large number of patients with a history of falls are referred to a therapist.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether occupational therapist home visits targeted at environmental hazards reduce the risk of falls DESIGN: A randomized controlled trial SETTING: Private dwellings in the community in Sydney, Australia PARTICIPANTS: A total of 530 subjects (mean age 77 years), recruited primarily before discharge from selected hospital wards INTERVENTION: A home visit by an experienced occupational therapist, who assessed the home for environmental hazards and facilitated any necessary home modifications MEASUREMENTS: The primary study outcome was falls, ascertained over a 12-month follow-up period using a monthly falls calendar RESULTS: Thirty six percent of subjects in the intervention group had at least one fall during follow-up, compared with 45% of controls (P = 050) The intervention was effective only among subjects (n = 206) who reported having had one or more falls during the year before recruitment into the study; in this group, the relative risk of at least one fall during follow-up was 064 (95% confidence interval, 050-083) Similar results were obtained when falls data were analyzed using survival analysis techniques (proportional and multiplicative hazards models) and fall rates (mean number of falls per person per year) About 50% of the recommended home modifications were in place at a 12-month follow-up visit CONCLUSIONS: Home visits by occupational therapists can prevent falls among older people who are at increased risk of falling However, the effect may not be caused by home modifications alone Home visits by occupational therapists may also lead to changes in behavior that enable older people to live more safely in both the home and the external environment J Am Geriatr Soc 47:1397–1402, 1999

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Journal ArticleDOI

Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community

TL;DR: These interventions were more effective in people at higher risk of falling, including those with severe visual impairment, and home safety interventions appear to be more effective when delivered by an occupational therapist.
Reference EntryDOI

Interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community (Review)

TL;DR: Exercise interventions reduce risk and rate of falls, and home safety interventions did not reduce falls, but were effective in people with severe visual impairment, and in others at higher risk of falling.
Journal ArticleDOI

Development of a Common Outcome Data Set for Fall Injury Prevention Trials: The Prevention of Falls Network Europe Consensus

TL;DR: It is possible that fall‐prevention strategies have limited effect on falls that result in injuries or are ineffective in populations who are at a higher risk of injury.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Risk factors for falls among elderly persons living in the community.

TL;DR: It is concluded that falls among older persons living in the community are common and that a simple clinical assessment can identify the elderly persons who are at the greatest risk of falling.
Journal ArticleDOI

Cox's Regression Model for Counting Processes: A Large Sample Study

TL;DR: In this article, the Cox regression model for censored survival data is extended to a model where covariate processes have a proportional effect on the intensity process of a multivariate counting process, allowing for complicated censoring patterns and time dependent covariates.
Journal ArticleDOI

A multifactorial intervention to reduce the risk of falling among elderly people living in the community.

TL;DR: The multiple-risk-factor intervention strategy resulted in a significant reduction in the risk of falling among elderly persons in the community and among persons who had the targeted risk factors for falling, as compared with the control group.
Journal ArticleDOI

Risk factors for recurrent nonsyncopal falls. A prospective study.

TL;DR: Risk factors for having a single fall were few and relatively weak, but multiple falls were more predictable, and increased odds of two or more falls for persons who had difficulty standing up from a chair, difficulty performing a tandem walk, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, and a fall with injury during the previous year were found.
Journal ArticleDOI

Falls, Injuries Due to Falls, and the Risk of Admission to a Nursing Home

TL;DR: Among older people living in the community falls are a strong predictor of placement in a skilled-nursing facility; interventions that prevent falls and their sequelae may therefore delay or reduce the frequency of nursing home admissions.
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