Feasibility of a new multifactorial fall prevention assessment and personalized intervention among older people recently discharged from the emergency department

Background and importance Falls among older people occur frequently and are a leading cause of Emergency department (ED) admissions, disability, death and rising health care costs. Multifactorial fall prevention programs that are aimed to target the population at risk have shown to effectively reduce the rate of falling and fall-related injuries in community-dwelling older people. However, the participation of and adherence to these programs in real life situation is generally low. Objective To test the feasibility of a transitionally organized fall prevention assessment with accompanying personalized intervention initiated at the ED. Design, settings and participants A process evaluation, of a non-randomized controlled pilot trial for implementing a transitionally organized multifactorial fall prevention intervention, was performed using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework to gain insight into the barriers and facilitators of implementation. Older fallers (>70yrs) presenting at the ED were selected based on ZIP-code and after obtaining informed consent, data for the evaluation was collected through questionnaires and interviews. Furthermore, feedback was collected from the healthcare providers. Main results The consent was obtained by 24 (70%) of the patients approached directly at the ED and 17 (26%) of the patients approached later by phone. Adherence to the protocol by the participants, clinical assessors and family practice were all more than 90%. After three months, nine (26%) of the participants had at least one recurrent fall: three (20%) patients in the intervention group and six (32%) in the control group. Conclusion ED presentation due to a fall in older persons provides a window of opportunity for optimizing adherence to a multifactorial fall prevention program as willingness to participate was higher when the patients were approached at the ED during their stay. Implementing a transitionally organized multidisciplinary fall prevention program was successful with a high protocol adherence.