RCT to Reduce Further Falls and Injuries for Older Fallers Presenting to an Emergency Department

NCT ID: NCT00217360

Last Updated: 2006-10-04

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 700 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2002-12-31
• Study Completion Date: 2006-12-31

Brief Summary

This project is called "Falls Aren't Us" and aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of a customised falls prevention program for people aged 60 and over who were presented to the hospital Emergency Department following a fall and being discharged home. Recruitment for this randomized controlled trial has commenced in late December 2002 from several major public hospitals in the western, southern, and northern parts of Melbourne Metropolitan Region. Consented participants will receive a comprehensive falls risk assessment within one week of being discharged home from the Emergency Department and at twelve month following this initial assessment. Their falls risks will be monitored for twelve months through a falls diary. Following randomization, participants in the intervention group will receive a customised falls prevention program in addition to the usual care being put in place from the hospital Emergency Department.

Detailed Description

Older people presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) following a fall have high injury and hospitalisation rates. They are also at high risk of further falls and other adverse outcomes. However, there is currently limited available evidence to inform best practice.

The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted multi-factor intervention in improving health and well being of older people who present to an ED after a fall. It also aims to identify those within this high-risk population most likely to benefit from the intervention program.

Approximately 800 people aged 60 years and over will be invited to participate at the Emergency Department from the end of September 2002. Those who are eligible to participate will have a falls risk assessment in their own home and will be required to complete a falls diary for 12 months. There is a 50/50 chance (random allocation) that participants will receive an individualised falls prevention program.

The duration of a falls risk assessment is up to 2 hours and there is no cost involved. Participation in the research program will not affect routine management from the Emergency Department.

Becoming a participant may lessen the risk of having another fall and help others as well.

Conditions

Accidental Falls

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Interventions

a customised multifactorial falls prevention program

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• presenting to the Emergency Department with the primary cause of presentation being a fall; aged 60 years or older;
• discharged directly home following emergency care; living in the community or a retirement village; willing to take part in the study;
• able to provide informed consent or has consent provided by a third party; able to comply with simple instructions;
• able to walk independently indoors with or without a gait aid.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 60 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Ageing Research Institute, Australia

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Principal Investigators

Keith D Hill, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

National Ageing Research Institute

Locations

National Ageing Research Institute

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Australia

Central Contacts

Irene Blackberry, MB, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 83872614

Email: i.blackberry@nari.unimelb.edu.au

Facility Contacts

John Barlow, PhD

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

HREC 2001.034

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id