National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (1)
- Adverse Events (9)
- Brain Injury (1)
- Chronic Conditions (1)
- Dementia (1)
- Diabetes (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (1)
- Education: Continuing Medical Education (1)
- Elderly (13)
- Emergency Department (2)
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS) (1)
- Eye Disease and Health (1)
- (-) Falls (24)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (1)
- Hospitals (5)
- Imaging (1)
- Injuries and Wounds (6)
- Inpatient Care (1)
- Long-Term Care (1)
- Medical Errors (1)
- Medicare (1)
- Medication (3)
- Medication: Safety (1)
- Neurological Disorders (2)
- Nursing Homes (4)
- Organizational Change (1)
- Outcomes (2)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (1)
- Patient Safety (15)
- Payment (1)
- Policy (1)
- Prevention (3)
- Provider (1)
- Provider: Nurse (1)
- Quality Improvement (2)
- Quality of Care (2)
- Research Methodologies (1)
- Risk (10)
- Shared Decision Making (1)
- Surveys on Patient Safety Culture (1)
- Teams (1)
- TeamSTEPPS (1)
- Trauma (2)
AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 24 of 24 Research Studies DisplayedVenema DM, Skinner AM, Nailon R
Patient and system factors associated with unassisted and injurious falls in hospitals: an observational study.
Unassisted falls are more likely to result in injury than assisted falls. However, little is known about risk factors for falling unassisted. Furthermore, rural hospitals, which care for a high proportion of older adults, are underrepresented in research on hospital falls. This study identified risk factors for unassisted and injurious falls in rural hospitals.
AHRQ-funded; HS021429.
Citation: Venema DM, Skinner AM, Nailon R .
Patient and system factors associated with unassisted and injurious falls in hospitals: an observational study.
BMC Geriatr 2019 Dec 11;19(1):348. doi: 10.1186/s12877-019-1368-8..
Keywords: Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Patient Safety, Elderly, Risk, Hospitals, Adverse Events
Allen JA, Reiter-Palmon R, Kennel V, et al.
Group and organizational safety norms set the stage for good post-fall huddles.
In this study, the investigators explored group and organizational safety norms as antecedents to meeting leader behaviors and achievement of desired outcomes in a special after-action review case-a post-fall huddle. Findings indicated that organizational and group safety norms related to perceived huddle meeting effectiveness through appropriate huddle leader behavior in a partial mediated framework.
AHRQ-funded; HS024630; HS021429.
Citation: Allen JA, Reiter-Palmon R, Kennel V, et al..
Group and organizational safety norms set the stage for good post-fall huddles.
J Leadersh Organ Stud 2019 Nov;26(4):465-75. doi: 10.1177/1548051818781820..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Falls, Organizational Change, Patient Safety
Jones KJ, Skinner A, Venema D
Evaluating the use of multiteam systems to manage the complexity of inpatient falls in rural hospitals.
Researchers evaluated the implementation and outcomes of evidence-based fall-risk-reduction processes when those processes are implemented using a multiteam system (MTS) structure. They found that multiteam systems that effectively coordinate fall-risk-reduction processes may improve the capacity of hospitals to manage the complex patient, environmental, and system factors that result in falls.
AHRQ-funded; HS024630; HS021429.
Citation: Jones KJ, Skinner A, Venema D .
Evaluating the use of multiteam systems to manage the complexity of inpatient falls in rural hospitals.
Health Serv Res 2019 Oct;54(5):994-1006. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13186..
Keywords: Falls, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, Prevention, Risk
Jones KJ, Crowe J, Allen JA
The impact of post-fall huddles on repeat fall rates and perceptions of safety culture: a quasi-experimental evaluation of a patient safety demonstration project.
The purpose of this study was to determine associations between conducting post-fall huddles and repeat fall rates and between post-fall huddle participation and perceptions of teamwork and safety culture. The investigators concluded that post-fall huddles may reduce the risk of repeat falls. Staff who participate in post-fall huddles were likely to have positive perceptions of teamwork support for fall-risk reduction and safety culture because huddles are a team-based approach to reporting, adapting, and learning.
AHRQ-funded; HS024630; HS021429.
Citation: Jones KJ, Crowe J, Allen JA .
The impact of post-fall huddles on repeat fall rates and perceptions of safety culture: a quasi-experimental evaluation of a patient safety demonstration project.
BMC Health Serv Res 2019 Sep 9;19(1):650. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4453-y..
Keywords: TeamSTEPPS, Falls, Adverse Events, Surveys on Patient Safety Culture, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Teams
Shorr RI, Staggs VS, Waters TM
Impact of the hospital-acquired conditions initiative on falls and physical restraints: a longitudinal study.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented the Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) Initiative in October 2008; the CMS no longer reimbursed hospitals for fall injury. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the 2008 HACs Initiative on the rates of falls, injurious falls, and physical restraint use. The investigators concluded that since the HACs Initiative, there was at best a modest decline in the rates of falls and injurious falls observed primarily in larger, major teaching hospitals. An increase in restraint use was not observed.
AHRQ-funded; HS020627.
Citation: Shorr RI, Staggs VS, Waters TM .
Impact of the hospital-acquired conditions initiative on falls and physical restraints: a longitudinal study.
J Hosp Med 2019 Sep 6;14:E31-E36. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3295..
Keywords: Falls, Adverse Events, Hospitals, Payment, Policy, Elderly
Klock M, Kang H, Gon Y
Scoring patient fall reports using quality rubric and machine learning.
Employing AHRQ’s rubric for assessing the quality of fall reports, the authors compared three different machine-learning models and identified the most effective method for scoring fall reports. They intend that their study results will be applicable in healthcare facilities to score reports during reporting for reporters to improve report quality. Their ultimate goal is to increase learning from fall reports for better prevention of patient falls.
AHRQ-funded; HS022895.
Citation: Klock M, Kang H, Gon Y .
Scoring patient fall reports using quality rubric and machine learning.
Stud Health Technol Inform 2019 Aug 21;264:639-43. doi: 10.3233/shti190301..
Keywords: Falls, Patient Safety, Prevention, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement
Patterson BW, Jacobsohn GC, Shah MN
Development and validation of a pragmatic natural language processing approach to identifying falls in older adults in the emergency department.
This study examined development and validation of a pragmatic natural language processing (NLP) approach to identify fall risk in older adults after emergency department (ED) visits. A single center retrospective review using data from 500 emergency department provider notes on older adults age 65 and older were random selected for analysis. The NLP algorithm successfully identified falls in ED notes with over 90% precision, and looks promising to reduce labor-intensive manual abstraction.
AHRQ-funded; HS024558.
Citation: Patterson BW, Jacobsohn GC, Shah MN .
Development and validation of a pragmatic natural language processing approach to identifying falls in older adults in the emergency department.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2019 Jul 22;19(1):138. doi: 10.1186/s12911-019-0843-7..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Elderly, Emergency Department, Falls, Risk, Patient Safety
Patterson BW, Engstrom CJ, Sah V
Training and interpreting machine learning algorithms to evaluate fall risk after emergency department visits.
This study examined the potential of using machine learning algorithms to evaluate fall risk after an emergency department (ED) visit. They compared several machine learning methodologies for creation of a risk stratification algorithm to predict the outcome of a return visit for a fall within 6 months of an ED visit.
AHRQ-funded; HS024558; HS024342.
Citation: Patterson BW, Engstrom CJ, Sah V .
Training and interpreting machine learning algorithms to evaluate fall risk after emergency department visits.
Med Care 2019 Jul;57(7):560-66. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001140..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Elderly, Emergency Department, Falls, Risk, Patient Safety
Newgard CD, Lin A, Yanez ND
Long-term outcomes among injured older adults transported by emergency medical services.
This study examined the outcomes of injured older adults who were transported by emergency medical services (EMS) to the hospital. Older adults 65 years and older who were transported by 44 EMS agencies to 51 hospitals in 2011 were included and then had a 12-month follow-up through December 31, 2012. The majority of older adults were transported after a fall (84.5%). Serious injuries occurred in 3.5% with a serious extremity injury being the most common (17.8%). Mortality rates for older adults with severe injuries ranged from 1.6% in the hospital to 20.3% at 1 year. The most common causes of death was cardiovascular diseases and dementia.
AHRQ-funded; HS023796.
Citation: Newgard CD, Lin A, Yanez ND .
Long-term outcomes among injured older adults transported by emergency medical services.
Injury 2019 Jun;50(6):1175-85. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2019.04.028..
Keywords: Elderly, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Outcomes, Trauma
Randolph AC, Lin YL, Volpi E
Tricyclic antidepressant and/or gamma-aminobutyric acid-analog use is associated with fall risk in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
This study invested whether tricyclic antidepressant and/or gamma-aminobutyric acid-analog (TCA/GABA) use is associated fall risk in older diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) patients. A nationally representative 5% Medicare sample between the years 2008 and 2010 were used, and 5,550 patients with TCA/GABA prescriptions were compared to 22,200 patients without a TCA/GABA prescription. Patients were followed until there was an incidence of a fall or first incidence of a fracture during the follow-up period of up to 5 years. After covariate adjustment, there was a statistically significant increase in falls and fractures for patients using TCAs or GABA-analogs.
AHRQ-funded; HS020642.
Citation: Randolph AC, Lin YL, Volpi E .
Tricyclic antidepressant and/or gamma-aminobutyric acid-analog use is associated with fall risk in diabetic peripheral neuropathy.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2019 Jun;67(6):1174-81. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15779..
Keywords: Medication, Diabetes, Elderly, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Medicare, Risk
Dykes PC, Bogaisky M, Carter EJ
Development and validation of a fall prevention knowledge test.
The authors developed and evaluated a fall prevention knowledge test (FPKT). The 11-item FPKT scale producing statistically significant differences confirmed validity. They recommended that a robust way to assess nurses' knowledge of fall prevention is needed to inform effective educational programs. They concluded that addressing gaps in validated FPKTs provides an opportunity to inform and evaluate effective fall prevention programs.
AHRQ-funded; HS025128; HS023535.
Citation: Dykes PC, Bogaisky M, Carter EJ .
Development and validation of a fall prevention knowledge test.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2019 Jan;67(1):133-38. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15563..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Provider: Nurse, Provider, Education: Continuing Medical Education
Aspinall SL, Springer SP, Zhao X
Central nervous system medication burden and risk of recurrent serious falls and hip fractures in Veterans Affairs nursing home residents.
This study investigated the association between taking central nervous system (CNS) medications with the risk of serious falls and hip fractures. Study participants were residents at a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Community Living Center (CLC) between July 1, 2005 and June 30, 2009. This was a nested case-control study. The investigators concluded that there was a higher risk in those residents receiving 3.0 or more daily CNS medications.
AHRQ-funded; HS023779.
Citation: Aspinall SL, Springer SP, Zhao X .
Central nervous system medication burden and risk of recurrent serious falls and hip fractures in Veterans Affairs nursing home residents.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2019 Jan;67(1):74-80. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15603..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Long-Term Care, Medication, Nursing Homes, Patient Safety, Risk
Rhodes W, Olsho LE, Ward AS
AHRQ Author: Spector WD
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10742-015-0138-0
Use of Monte Carlo simulation to inform design decisions for pairwise cluster randomization.
This paper demonstrates the utility of the Monte Carlo approach in the context of a planned evaluation of an intervention to reduce falls among nursing home residents and provides recommendations for researchers on key design questions, including the choice between cluster randomization and pairwise cluster randomization, and selection of parametric or nonparametric estimators.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; 290201000031I.
Citation: Rhodes W, Olsho LE, Ward AS .
Use of Monte Carlo simulation to inform design decisions for pairwise cluster randomization.
Health Serv Outcomes Res Method (2015) 15: 182-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10742-015-0138-0..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Research Methodologies, Falls
Easter JS, Haukoos JS, Meehan WP
Will neuroimaging reveal a severe intracranial injury in this adult with minor head trauma?: The rational clinical examination systematic review.
The study objective was to assess systematically the accuracy of symptoms and signs in adults with minor head trauma in order to identify those with severe intracranial injuries. It found that combinations of history and physical examination features in clinical decision rules can identify patients with minor head trauma at low risk of severe intracranial injuries.
AHRQ-funded; HS017526.
Citation: Easter JS, Haukoos JS, Meehan WP .
Will neuroimaging reveal a severe intracranial injury in this adult with minor head trauma?: The rational clinical examination systematic review.
JAMA 2015 Dec 22-29;314(24):2672-81. doi: 10.1001/jama.2015.16316..
Keywords: Falls, Brain Injury, Imaging, Trauma, Diagnostic Safety and Quality
Hignett S, Wolf L, Taylor E
Firefighting to innovation: using human factors and ergonomics to tackle slip, trip, and fall risks in hospitals.
The aim of this study was to use a theoretical model (bench) for human factors and ergonomics (HFE) and a comparison with occupational slips, trips, and falls (STFs) risk management to discuss patient STF interventions (bedside). : Three case studies are used to discuss how HFE has been, or could be, applied to STF risk management.
AHRQ-funded; HS021824.
Citation: Hignett S, Wolf L, Taylor E .
Firefighting to innovation: using human factors and ergonomics to tackle slip, trip, and fall risks in hospitals.
Hum Factors 2015 Nov;57(7):1195-207. doi: 10.1177/0018720815593642.
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Keywords: Patient Safety, Risk, Falls, Hospitals
Leland NE, Gozalo P, Bynum J
What happens to patients when they fracture their hip during a skilled nursing facility stay?
This study characterized outcomes of patients experiencing a fall and subsequent hip fracture while in a nursing home receiving skilled nursing facility (SNF) services. In the first 90 days following hospitalization for surgical repair of the hip fracture, 24.1 percent of patients died, 7.3 percent were discharged to the community but remained fewer than 30 days, and 14.0 percent achieved successful community discharge.
AHRQ-funded; HS000011.
Citation: Leland NE, Gozalo P, Bynum J .
What happens to patients when they fracture their hip during a skilled nursing facility stay?
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2015 Sep;16(9):767-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2015.03.026..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Outcomes
Callaghan B, Kerber K, Langa KM
Longitudinal patient-oriented outcomes in neuropathy: importance of early detection and falls.
This study evaluated longitudinal patient-oriented outcomes in peripheral neuropathy over a 14-year time period including time before and after diagnosis. It concluded that, in older persons, differences in falls, pain, and self-rated health can be detected 3–5 years prior to peripheral neuropathy diagnosis, but only falls deteriorate more rapidly over time in neuropathy cases compared to controls.
AHRQ-funded; HS017690; HS022258.
Citation: Callaghan B, Kerber K, Langa KM .
Longitudinal patient-oriented outcomes in neuropathy: importance of early detection and falls.
Neurology 2015 Jul 7;85(1):71-9. doi: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000001714..
Keywords: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Neurological Disorders, Falls, Elderly, Patient Safety
Reiter-Palmon R, Kennel V, Allen JA
Naturalistic decision making in after-action review meetings: the implementation of and learning from post-fall huddles.
In this study, the authors added to our understanding of Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) in healthcare and how After Action Reviews (AARs) can be utilized as a learning tool to reduce errors. They found that the use of self-guided post-fall huddles increased over the time of the project, the types of errors identified as contributing to the patient fall changed, and the proportion of falls with less adverse effects increased during the project time period. They concluded that , over time, self-guided AARs can be useful for some aspects of learning from errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS021429.
Citation: Reiter-Palmon R, Kennel V, Allen JA .
Naturalistic decision making in after-action review meetings: the implementation of and learning from post-fall huddles.
J Occup Organ Psychol 2015 Jun;88(2):322-40. doi: 10.1111/joop.12084.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Falls, Shared Decision Making, Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Su BY, Ho KC, Rantz MJ
Doppler radar fall activity detection using the wavelet transform.
The authors propose the use of Wavelet transform (WT) to detect human falls using a ceiling mounted Doppler range control radar. Evaluations based on the data collected in the lab, in the bathrooms, and in the senior residence apartment validate the promising and robust performance of the proposed WT fall activity detector.
AHRQ-funded; HS018477.
Citation: Su BY, Ho KC, Rantz MJ .
Doppler radar fall activity detection using the wavelet transform.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2015 Mar;62(3):865-75. doi: 10.1109/tbme.2014.2367038..
Keywords: Falls, Patient Safety, Adverse Events
Steinman BA, Allen SM, Chen J
Functional limitations as potential mediators of the effects of self-reported vision status on fall risk of older adults.
The purpose of this study was to examine mediating effects of two indices of physical functioning (mobility and large-muscle functioning) on self-reported vision status, as it relates to falls in older adults. Limited evidence was found for a mediating effect among women; however, large-muscle groups were implicated as partially mediating risk factors for falls among men with fair self-reported vision status.
AHRQ-funded; HS000011.
Citation: Steinman BA, Allen SM, Chen J .
Functional limitations as potential mediators of the effects of self-reported vision status on fall risk of older adults.
J Aging Health 2015 Feb;27(1):158-76. doi: 10.1177/0898264314543473..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Eye Disease and Health, Risk
Stone E, Skubic M, Rantz M
Average in-home gait speed: investigation of a new metric for mobility and fall risk assessment of elders.
This study assessed how a new metric, average in-home gait speed (AIGS), measured using a low-cost, continuous, environmentally mounted monitoring system, compares to a set of traditional physical performance instruments used for mobility and fall risk assessment of elderly adults. It found that, using the ability of an instrument to predict how an individual would score on all the instruments as a metric, AIGS performs best, having better predictive ability than the traditional instruments.
AHRQ-funded; HS018477.
Citation: Stone E, Skubic M, Rantz M .
Average in-home gait speed: investigation of a new metric for mobility and fall risk assessment of elders.
Gait Posture 2015 Jan;41(1):57-62. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2014.08.019..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Falls, Elderly, Risk
Aspinall SL, Zhao X, Semia TP
Epidemiology of drug-disease interactions in older veteran nursing home residents.
The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of and factors associated with potentially inappropriate drug– disease combinations according to the AGS 2012 Beers criteria that are clinically important in elderly adults residing in Veterans Affairs Community Living Centers. It found that drug-disease interactions were common in older residents with dementia or cognitive impairment or a history of falls or hip fracture.
AHRQ-funded; HS018721.
Citation: Aspinall SL, Zhao X, Semia TP .
Epidemiology of drug-disease interactions in older veteran nursing home residents.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2015 Jan;63(1):77-84. doi: 10.1111/jgs.13197..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Dementia, Elderly, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Medication, Medication: Safety, Neurological Disorders, Nursing Homes, Patient Safety
Stone EE, Skubic M
Fall detection in homes of older adults using the Microsoft Kinect.
The researchers present a method for detecting falls in the homes of older adults using the Microsoft Kinect and a two-stage fall detection system. The method is compared against five state-of-the-art fall detection algorithms and significantly better results are achieved.
AHRQ-funded; HS018477.
Citation: Stone EE, Skubic M .
Fall detection in homes of older adults using the Microsoft Kinect.
IEEE J Biomed Health Inform 2015 Jan;19(1):290-301. doi: 10.1109/jbhi.2014.2312180..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Falls, Elderly, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Nilsagard Y, Gunn H, Freeman J
Falls in people with MS--an individual data meta-analysis from studies from Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.
The objectives of this paper are to compile fall rates across a broad range of ages and disease severity and to definitively assess the extent to which multiple sclerosis (MS)-associated and demographic factors influence fall rates. It found that persons with MS are at high risk of falls and there are important associations between falls and MS-associated disability, gender and age.
AHRQ-funded; HS017582.
Citation: Nilsagard Y, Gunn H, Freeman J .
Falls in people with MS--an individual data meta-analysis from studies from Australia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.
Mult Scler 2015 Jan;21(1):92-100. doi: 10.1177/1352458514538884..
Keywords: Falls, Risk, Elderly, Chronic Conditions