Patient education to prevent falls in subacute care

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a patient education programme for preventing falls in the subacute hospital setting. Design: Randomized controlled trial, subgroup analysis. Participants: Patients of a metropolitan subacute/aged rehabilitation hospital who were recommended for a patient education intervention for the prevention of falls when enrolled in a larger randomized controlled trial of a falls prevention programme. Methods: Participants in both the control and intervention groups who were recommended for the education programme intervention were followed for the duration of their hospital stay to determine if falls occurred. Only participants in the intervention group who were recommended for this intervention actually received it. In addition, these participants completed an evaluation survey at the completion of their education programme. Results: Intervention group participants in this subgroup analysis had a significantly lower incidence of falls than their control group counterparts (control: 16.0 falls/1000 participant-days, intervention: 8.2 falls/1000 participant-days, log-rank test: P = 0.007). However the difference in the proportion of fallers was not significant (relative risk 1.21, 95% confidence interval 0.68 to 2.14). Conclusion: Patient education is an important part of a multiple intervention falls prevention approach for the subacute hospital setting.