Preventing accidental falls among older people in long stay units.

A fall prevention programme for older long-stay patients in a 95 bedded District Hospital was undertaken. Data on falls and resulting injuries for the year prior to the intervention were compared with equivalent data after one year (Year 1) and after two years (Year 2) of the intervention. In the pre-intervention year 25% of patients had at least one fall compared with 20.9% and 17.4% in Year 1 and Year 2 respectively. This difference was not statistically significant. However, there were 21% fewer falls in Year 1 and 49.3% fewer in Year 2 than in the pre-intervention year. This difference was significant in Year 2. In both intervention years there was a significant reduction in the incidence of fracture from 20.5% of falls (pre-intervention) to 2.8% in Year 1 and no fractures occurred in Year 2. Significant reductions in soft tissue injuries occurred in Year 2 but not in Year 1, dropping from 38.5% (pre-intervention) to 36.1% and 15.4% respectively. The percentage of patients uninjured after a fall increased from 41% to 61.1% to 84.6%. This intervention reduced falls and their adverse consequences for older people living in the long stay unit. The effect of the intervention escalated in Year 2. The intervention cost IR£4,800. Fall prevention should be part of the routine care of older people in all types of long stay care.