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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a monthly compilation of research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers and recently published in journals or newsletters.
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1 to 25 of 82 Research Studies DisplayedShear K, Rice H, Garabedian PM
Usability testing of an interoperable computerized clinical decision support tool for fall risk management in primary care.
The purpose of this study was to conduct usability testing of the ASPIRE fall risk management tool for use in divergent primary care clinics. Participants recruited from two sites with different electronic health records and clinical organizations used ASPIRE across two clinical scenarios; they rated ASPIRE usability as above average, based on usability benchmarks. Time spent on tasks decreased significantly between the first and second scenarios, indicating ease of learnability. The authors conclude that ASPIRE could be integrated into diverse organizations, since it allows a tailored implementation without the need to build a new system for each organization. ASPIRE is therefore well positioned to impact the challenge of falls at scale.
AHRQ-funded; HS027557.
Citation: Shear K, Rice H, Garabedian PM .
Usability testing of an interoperable computerized clinical decision support tool for fall risk management in primary care.
Appl Clin Inform 2023 Mar;14(2):212-26. doi: 10.1055/a-2006-4936.
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Health Information Technology (HIT), Falls, Primary Care, Risk, Prevention
Dykes PC, Curtin-Bowen M, Lipsitz S
Cost of inpatient falls and cost-benefit analysis of implementation of an evidence-based fall prevention program.
The financial implications of patient falls within healthcare settings, a primary cause of nonreimbursable negative incidents, have not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the expenses related to inpatient falls and the potential cost savings achieved through the adoption of a proven fall prevention program. This economic assessment employed a matched case-control approach, utilizing results from an interrupted time series analysis that evaluated the alterations in fall rates after the introduction of an evidence-based fall prevention program to estimate inpatient fall expenses. Subsequently, an economic analysis was conducted to evaluate the cost advantages of implementing the program across two American healthcare systems from June 1, 2013, to August 31, 2019, in New York, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts. All adult patients admitted to the participating units were included in the analysis. Data analysis took place between October 2021 and November 2022. The fall prevention program, based on evidence, was introduced in 33 medical and surgical departments across eight hospitals. The primary outcome was the expense related to inpatient falls. Secondary outcomes included costs and savings linked to the evidence-based fall prevention program. The study found that the case-control study and economic analysis included 10,176 patients who experienced a fall event (with or without injury) and 29,161 matched controls without a fall event (51.9% aged 65-74 years, 67.1% White, and 53.6% male). Prior to the intervention, there were 2,503 falls and 900 injuries; following the intervention, there were 2,078 falls and 758 injuries. Based on a 19% decrease in falls and a 20% decrease in injury-causing falls from the beginning to the end of the post-intervention period, the economic analysis revealed that noninjurious and injurious falls led to cost increases of $35,365 and $36,776, respectively. The introduction of the evidence-based fall prevention program resulted in $14,600 in net avoided expenses for every 1000 patient-days.
AHRQ-funded; HS027557; HS025128
Citation: Dykes PC, Curtin-Bowen M, Lipsitz S .
Cost of inpatient falls and cost-benefit analysis of implementation of an evidence-based fall prevention program.
JAMA Health Forum 2023 Jan 6;4(1):e225125. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2022.5125.
Keywords: Falls, Healthcare Delivery, Evidence-Based Practice, Prevention
Leland NE, Lekovitch C, Martínez J
Optimizing post-acute care patient safety: a scoping review of multifactorial fall prevention interventions for older adults.
The purpose of this scoping review was to describe the evidence for multifactorial post-acute care (PAC) fall prevention interventions for older patients. The researchers included 33 studies and characterized common intervention domains including: evaluating patient-specific fall risk factors, developing an individualized risk profile and treatment plan that targets each patient's fall risk factors, and implementing facility-based strategies such as staff education. There was not consensus across studies in how the domains were addressed and to what extent. The researchers concluded that health system efforts to prevent accidental falls in PAC should consider a patient-centered multifactorial approach.
AHRQ-funded; HS022907.
Citation: Leland NE, Lekovitch C, Martínez J .
Optimizing post-acute care patient safety: a scoping review of multifactorial fall prevention interventions for older adults.
J Appl Gerontol 2022 Oct;41(10):2187-96. doi: 10.1177/07334648221104375..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Prevention, Patient Safety, Evidence-Based Practice
Newgard CD, Lin A, Caughey AB
Falls in older adults requiring emergency services: mortality, use of healthcare resources, and prognostication to one year.
The purpose of this study was to assess the prognoses, healthcare use, transitions to skilled nursing or hospice, and mortality of older, community-living adults after a fall. The researchers conducted a secondary analysis of all adults in 7 Northwest U.S. counties greater than or equal to 65 years of age who had been transported to one of 51 hospitals after a fall. The study analyzed Medicare claims, state trauma registry data, state inpatient data, and death records for outcomes which included healthcare use, new claims for skilled nursing and hospice for one year, and mortality. The researchers found that in 3,159 older adults there were 147 deaths within 30 days and 665 deaths within one year, and the following predictors of mortality: respiratory diagnosis, serious brain injury, having a baseline disability, or a score of greater than or equal to 2 on the Charlson Comorbidity Index. The study concluded that in the year after experiencing a fall, community-living older adults who require ambulance transport to the hospital have increases in institutionalized living, the utilization of health care, and mortality.
AHRQ-funded; HS023796.
Citation: Newgard CD, Lin A, Caughey AB .
Falls in older adults requiring emergency services: mortality, use of healthcare resources, and prognostication to one year.
West J Emerg Med 2022 May 14;23(3):375-85. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2021.11.54327..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Emergency Department, Mortality, Healthcare Utilization
Rice H, Garabedian PM, Shear K
Clinical decision support for fall prevention: defining end-user needs.
The purpose of this study was to identify patient and primary care staff needs for development of a tool that will generate clinical decision support (CDS) to prevent falls and injuries in older adults. Community-dwelling patients aged 60 and over and primary care clinic staff were eligible to participate in the study; all were affiliated with the University of Florida Health Archer Family Health Care primary care clinic and the Brigham & Women's Hospital-affiliated primary care clinics. Through qualitative interviews with patients (n=18) and primary care clinic staff (n=24) user needs were identified and then categorized into the following themes: evidence-based safe exercises; expert guidance; individualized resources; in-person assessment of patient condition; motivational tools; patient understanding of fall risk; personal support networks; systematic communication and workload burden. The study concluded that personalized, actionable, and evidence-based clinical decision support may be able to address some of the many gaps that exist in fall prevention management in older adults.
AHRQ-funded; HS027557.
Citation: Rice H, Garabedian PM, Shear K .
Clinical decision support for fall prevention: defining end-user needs.
Appl Clin Inform 2022 May;13(3):647-55. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1750360..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Prevention, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Jacobsohn GC, Leaf M, Liao F
Collaborative design and implementation of a clinical decision support system for automated fall-risk identification and referrals in emergency departments.
The authors used a collaborative and iterative approach to design and implement an automated clinical decision support system (CDS) for Emergency Department (ED) providers to identify and refer older adult ED patients at high risk of future falls. The system was developed using collaborative input from an interdisciplinary design team and integrated seamlessly into existing ED workflows. A key feature of development was the unique combination of patient experience strategies, human-centered design, and implementation science, which allowed for the CDS tool and intervention implementation strategies to be designed simultaneously. Challenges included: usability problems, data inaccessibility, time constraints, low appointment availability, high volume of patients, and others. The study concluded that using the collaborative, iterative approach was successful in achieving all project goals, and could be applied to other cases.
AHRQ-funded; HS024558.
Citation: Jacobsohn GC, Leaf M, Liao F .
Collaborative design and implementation of a clinical decision support system for automated fall-risk identification and referrals in emergency departments.
Healthc 2022 Mar;10(1):100598. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2021.100598..
Keywords: Elderly, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Falls, Risk, Emergency Department, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Chen C, Winterstein AG, Lo-Ciganic WH
Concurrent use of prescription gabapentinoids with opioids and risk for fall-related injury among older US Medicare beneficiaries with chronic noncancer pain: a population-based cohort study.
This study compared the risk of fall-related injury in two cohorts who used gabapentinoids concurrently with opioid use and those who used opioids only. The authors created 2 cohorts based on whether concurrent users initiated gabapentinoids on the day of opioid initiation (Cohort 1) or after opioid initiation (Cohort 2). Both cohorts were identified from a sample of older Medicare beneficiaries with chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP). Four concurrent users were matched up with 1 opioid-only user. They identified 6,733 concurrent users and 27,092 matched opioid-only users in Cohort 1 and 5,709 concurrent users and 22,388 matched opioid-only users in Cohort 2. Cohort 1’s incidence rate of fall-related injury was 24.5 per 100 person-users during follow-up and was 18.0 per 100-person-years during follow-up for Cohort 2. Concurrent users had had similar risk of fall-related injury as opioid-only users in Cohort 1 but had higher risk for fall-related injury than opioid-only users in Cohort 2.
AHRQ-funded; HS027230.
Citation: Chen C, Winterstein AG, Lo-Ciganic WH .
Concurrent use of prescription gabapentinoids with opioids and risk for fall-related injury among older US Medicare beneficiaries with chronic noncancer pain: a population-based cohort study.
PLoS Med 2022 Mar;19(3):e1003921. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1003921..
Keywords: Elderly, Opioids, Medication, Medication: Safety, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Falls, Patient Safety, Injuries and Wounds, Pain, Chronic Conditions
Dykes PC, Khasnabish S, Burns Z
Development and validation of a fall prevention efficiency scale.
This study examined nurses’ perception of implementing the Fall TIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety) tool, which is an evidence-based fall prevention program which was shown to reduce falls in hospitalized adults by 25%. The authors conducted a 3-phase mixed method study at 3 hospitals in Massachusetts and 3 in New York to assess nurses’ perceptions of burdens imposed on them by using Fall TIPS or other fall prevention programs. A 20-item prototype Fall Prevention Efficiency Scale was developed and administered to 383 clinical nurses. This scale was reduced to 13 items. The scale achieved excellent internal consistency values when examined with the test, validation, and paired (both test and retest) samples.
AHRQ-funded; HS025128.
Citation: Dykes PC, Khasnabish S, Burns Z .
Development and validation of a fall prevention efficiency scale.
J Patient Saf 2022 Mar 1;18(2):94-101. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000811..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Patient Safety, Hospitals
Dykes PC, KhasnabishE S, Adkison LE
Use of a perceived efficacy tool to evaluate the FallTIPS program.
The authors assessed nurses' opinions of the efficacy of using the FallTIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety) fall prevention program. They found that the nurses who used FallTIPS perceived that efficiencies in patient care compensated for the time spent on FallTIPS. Nurses valued the program, and findings confirmed the importance of patient and family engagement with staff in the fall prevention process.
AHRQ-funded; HS025128.
Citation: Dykes PC, KhasnabishE S, Adkison LE .
Use of a perceived efficacy tool to evaluate the FallTIPS program.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2021 Dec;69(12):3595-601. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17436..
Keywords: Falls, Patient Safety, Prevention, Provider: Nurse, Adverse Events
Hahn EE, Munoz-Plaza CE, Lee EA
Patient and physician perspectives of deprescribing potentially inappropriate medications in older adults with a history of falls: a qualitative study.
Investigators explored patient and clinician experiences with and perceptions of deprescribing potentially inappropriate medications in patients with a history of falls. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with primary care physicians from Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC), and guided patient feedback sessions with patient members of the KPSC Regional Patient Advisory Committee. The investigators found that key barriers to deprescribing included primary care physician trepidation about raising a contentious topic and insufficient patient awareness of the potential seriousness of falls. They suggested a need for multifaceted, multilevel deprescribing approaches with clinician training strategies, patient educational resources, and a focus on building trusting patient-clinician relationships.
AHRQ-funded; HS024437.
Citation: Hahn EE, Munoz-Plaza CE, Lee EA .
Patient and physician perspectives of deprescribing potentially inappropriate medications in older adults with a history of falls: a qualitative study.
J Gen Intern Med 2021 Oct;36(10):3015-22. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06493-8..
Keywords: Elderly, Medication, Falls
Herzig SJ, Rothberg MB, Moss CR
Risk of in-hospital falls among medications commonly used for insomnia in hospitalized patients.
This study investigated the risk of in-hospital falls among patients receiving medications commonly used for insomnia. This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a large academic medical center from January 2007 to July 2013. Adults admitted for a primary psychiatric disorder were excluded. Medications of interest included benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonists, trazodone, atypical antipsychotics, and diphenhydramine. Among 225,498 hospitalizations, 37.7% had exposure to at least one of the medication classes of interest with benzodiazepines being the most commonly prescribed. A fall occurred in 1.1% (2,427) of hospitalizations. The rate of falls per 1,000 hospital days was greater among patients with exposure to each of the medications of interest compared to unexposed patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS026215.
Citation: Herzig SJ, Rothberg MB, Moss CR .
Risk of in-hospital falls among medications commonly used for insomnia in hospitalized patients.
Sleep 2021 Sep 13;44(9):zsab064. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsab064..
Keywords: Falls, Medication, Adverse Events, Risk, Hospitals
Piatkowski M, Taylor E, Wong B
Designing a patient room as a fall protection strategy: the perspectives of healthcare design experts.
This multi-year study aimed to better understand how patient room design can increase stability during ambulation, serving as a fall protection strategy for frail and/or elderly patients. Specifically, the aim of this portion of the study was to ascertain the architect's perspective on designing a room to mitigate the risk of falls, as well as to evaluate the face validity of a predictive algorithm to assess risk in room design using the input of a design advisory council (AC).
AHRQ-funded; HS025606.
Citation: Piatkowski M, Taylor E, Wong B .
Designing a patient room as a fall protection strategy: the perspectives of healthcare design experts.
Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 Aug 19;18(16). doi: 10.3390/ijerph18168769..
Keywords: Falls, Patient Safety, Prevention, Adverse Events, Inpatient Care
Leung WY, Adelman J, Bates DW
Validating fall prevention icons to support patient-centered education.
Falls with injury are the most prevalent hospital adverse event. The objective of this project was to refine fall risk and prevention icons for a patient-centric bedside toolkit to promote patient and nurse engagement in accurately assessing fall risks and developing a tailored fall prevention plan. The investigators indicated that all 16 icons were refined and used to form the basis for a bedside fall prevention toolkit.
AHRQ-funded; HS023535.
Citation: Leung WY, Adelman J, Bates DW .
Validating fall prevention icons to support patient-centered education.
J Patient Saf 2021 Aug 1;17(5):e413-e22. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000354..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Patient Safety, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Education: Patient and Caregiver, Hospitals, Adverse Events
Newgard CD, Lin A, Caughey AB
The cost of a fall among older adults requiring emergency services.
Researchers evaluated medical expenditures to 1 year among community-dwelling older adults who fell and required ambulance transport, including acute versus post-acute periods, the primary drivers of cost, and comparison to baseline expenditures. They found that older adults who fall and require emergency services have increased healthcare expenditures compared with baseline, particularly during the post-acute period. Comorbidities, noninjury medical conditions, fracture type, and surgical interventions were independently associated with increased costs.
AHRQ-funded; HS023796.
Citation: Newgard CD, Lin A, Caughey AB .
The cost of a fall among older adults requiring emergency services.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2021 Feb;69(2):389-98. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16863..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Emergency Department, Healthcare Costs, Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Xu H, Li X, Shi Y
Hospital bed height influences biomechanics during bed egress: a comparative controlled study of patients with Parkinson disease.
Although a significant proportion of patient falls occur during egress from the hospital bed, the biomechanical adaptations during egress from different bed heights are still largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of hospital bed height on natural transition during egress in patients with Parkinson disease (PD). The investigators found that low bed height increased demands of balance and postural control during egress which exacerbated the risk of falls for patients with PD.
AHRQ-funded; HS018953; HS025606.
Citation: Xu H, Li X, Shi Y .
Hospital bed height influences biomechanics during bed egress: a comparative controlled study of patients with Parkinson disease.
J Biomech 2021 Jan 22;115:110116. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2020.110116..
Keywords: Falls, Neurological Disorders, Hospitals
Patterson BW, Jacobsohn GC, Maru AP
Comparing strategies for identifying falls in older adult emergency department visits using EHR data.
This study compared seven different strategies for identifying falls in older adult emergency department (ED) visits using electronic health record (EHR) data. This retrospective cohort study used randomly selected data from 500 ED visits by patients 65 and older at an academic medical center from December 2016 to April 2017. The seven strategies tested were: Chief complaint (CC), ICD codes, Restrictive ICD codes, Broad ICD codes, Combined approaches, Natural language processing (NLP), and Manual abstraction (gold standard). When compared with manual chart review, NLP was found to be the most accurate fall identification strategy, followed by a combination of a restrictive ICD code-based definition with CC.
AHRQ-funded; HS024558.
Citation: Patterson BW, Jacobsohn GC, Maru AP .
Comparing strategies for identifying falls in older adult emergency department visits using EHR data.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2020 Dec;68(12):2965-67. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16831..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Emergency Department, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Dykes PC, Burns Z, Adelman J
Evaluation of a patient-centered fall-prevention tool kit to reduce falls and injuries: a nonrandomized controlled trial.
The purpose of this study was to assess whether a fall-prevention tool kit that engages patients and families in the fall-prevention process throughout hospitalization is associated with reduced falls and injurious falls. Findings showed that, in this nonrandomized controlled trial, implementation of a fall-prevention tool kit was associated with a significant reduction in falls and related injuries. A patient-care team partnership appeared to be beneficial for prevention of falls and fall-related injuries.
AHRQ-funded; HS023535.
Citation: Dykes PC, Burns Z, Adelman J .
Evaluation of a patient-centered fall-prevention tool kit to reduce falls and injuries: a nonrandomized controlled trial.
JAMA Netw Open 2020 Nov 2;3(11):e2025889. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.25889..
Keywords: Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Prevention, Tools & Toolkits, Patient and Family Engagement, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Hospitalization, Hospitals
Burns Z, Khasnabish S, Hurley AC
Classification of injurious fall severity in hospitalized adults.
The purpose of this project was to refine the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Major injury classification to derive a valid and reliable categorization of the types and severities of Major inpatient fall-related injuries. Three subcategories were created: A - injuries that caused temporary functional impairment, major facial injury without internal injury, or disruption of a surgical wound; B - injuries that caused long-term functional impairment or had the potential risk of increased mortality; and C - injuries that had a well-established risk of mortality. These subcategories enhanced the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators categorization. Using this project’s administration manual, trained personnel can classify injurious fall severity with excellent reliability.
AHRQ-funded; HS025128.
Citation: Burns Z, Khasnabish S, Hurley AC .
Classification of injurious fall severity in hospitalized adults.
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2020 Sep 25;75(10):e138-e44. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa004..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Nursing, Quality Measures, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Inpatient Care
Hoffman GJ, Tinetti ME, Ha J
Prehospital and posthospital fall injuries in older US adults.
Investigators estimated the risk of older adult fall injury within and across discrete periods during a 12-month care episode anchored by an acute hospitalization using national data from 2006 to 2014. Participants in this cohort study included Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 and older from the Health and Retirement Study. The investigators found that an episode-based assessment of fall injury illustrated substantial variability in period-specific risks over an extended period including an anchor hospitalization. Risk transitions between periods included sizable increases just before hospitalization that do not fully subside after hospital discharge. Financial incentives to coordinate hospital and posthospital care for patients at risk for fall injury are needed.
AHRQ-funded; HS025838.
Citation: Hoffman GJ, Tinetti ME, Ha J .
Prehospital and posthospital fall injuries in older US adults.
JAMA Netw Open 2020 Aug 3;3(8):e2013243. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.13243..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Risk, Hospitalization, Medicare
Lurie JD, Zagaria AB, Ellis L
Surface perturbation training to prevent falls in older adults: a highly pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.
This study’s objective was to determine if adding a component of surface-perturbation training to usual gait/balance training was more effective than gait/balance training alone for reducing falls and fall-related injuries in high-risk older adults referred to physical therapy. This multi-center trial took place at 8 outpatient physical therapy clinics. The cohort included 506 patients aged 65 and older at high fall risk. The group was randomized between treatment with and without surface-perturbation treadmill training. The results were that the training did not significantly reduce risk of any fall but did significantly reduce chance of a fall-related injury after the first 3 months.
AHRQ-funded; HS018459.
Citation: Lurie JD, Zagaria AB, Ellis L .
Surface perturbation training to prevent falls in older adults: a highly pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.
Phys Ther 2020 Jul 19;100(7):1153-62. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzaa023..
Keywords: Elderly, Falls, Prevention, Training
Bushnell GA, Gerhard T, Crystal S
Benzodiazepine treatment and fracture risk in young persons with anxiety disorders.
This study examined whether benzodiazepine treatment increases fall and fracture risk in young persons as it has been shown to do in older adults. They examined whether children (6-17 years) and young adults (18-24) recently diagnosed with anxiety disorder had an increased fracture risk. A cohort of commercially insured children and young adults who had initiated use of benzodiazepine or SSRIs were followed for 3 months, or until fracture, treatment discontinuation or switching or disenrollment occurred. The cohort consisted of 120,715 children and 179,768 young adults. There was an increased fracture rate found in children, but not young adults.
AHRQ-funded; HS026001.
Citation: Bushnell GA, Gerhard T, Crystal S .
Benzodiazepine treatment and fracture risk in young persons with anxiety disorders.
Pediatrics 2020 Jul;146(1):e20193478. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-3478..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Young Adults, Medication, Falls, Injuries and Wounds, Risk, Anxiety, Behavioral Health
Sanghavi P, Pan S, Caudry D
Assessment of nursing home reporting of major injury falls for quality measurement on Nursing Home Compare.
The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of nursing home self-report of major injury falls on the Minimum Data Set (MDS). They linked inpatient claims for major injury falls with MDS assessments. The investigators concluded that the nursing home-reported data used for the Nursing Home Compare (NHC) falls measure may be highly inaccurate.
AHRQ-funded; HS026957.
Citation: Sanghavi P, Pan S, Caudry D .
Assessment of nursing home reporting of major injury falls for quality measurement on Nursing Home Compare.
Health Serv Res 2020 Apr;55(2):201-10. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13247..
Keywords: Falls, Nursing Homes, Quality Measures, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Elderly, Public Reporting, Injuries and Wounds
Christiansen TL, Lipsitz S, Scanlan M
Patient activation related to fall prevention: a multisite study.
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the Fall TIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety) program on patient activation related to fall prevention. Researchers used the short form Patient Activation Measure (PAM-13) adapted for fall prevention. Their findings showed that patient activation improved from preintervention to postintervention at all three studied sites. Patients with access to the Fall TIPS program are more activated and engaged in their fall prevention plan. Recommendations include engaging patients in the fall prevention plan to increase their knowledge, skill, and confidence.
AHRQ-funded; HS023535.
Citation: Christiansen TL, Lipsitz S, Scanlan M .
Patient activation related to fall prevention: a multisite study.
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2020 Mar;46(3):129-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjq.2019.11.010..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Patient Safety, Patient and Family Engagement, Education: Patient and Caregiver
Khasnabish S, Burns Z, Couch M
Best practices for data visualization: creating and evaluating a report for an evidence-based fall prevention program.
This case report applied principles from the data visualization literature and feedback from nurses to develop an effective report to display adherence with an evidence-based fall prevention program. The literature emphasized that the ideal display maximizes the information communicated, minimizes the cognitive efforts involved with interpretation, and selects the correct type of display. Lessons learned from this study can inform report development for clinicians in implementation science.
AHRQ-funded; HS025128.
Citation: Khasnabish S, Burns Z, Couch M .
Best practices for data visualization: creating and evaluating a report for an evidence-based fall prevention program.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2020 Feb;27(2):308-14. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocz190..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Evidence-Based Practice
Venema 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