Back to Search Start Over

The Rose-Colored Glasses of Geriatric Fall Patients: Inconsistencies Between Knowledge of Risk Factors for and Actual Causes of Falls

The Rose-Colored Glasses of Geriatric Fall Patients: Inconsistencies Between Knowledge of Risk Factors for and Actual Causes of Falls

Authors :
Courtney E. Collins MD MS
Arnav Chandra BS
Bryan Nguyen BS
Kurt Schultz BS
Pawan Mathew BS
Tiffany Chen MD
Savannah Renshaw BS
Karen M. Rose PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN
Heena P. Santry MD MS
Source :
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Vol 6 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
SAGE Publishing, 2020.

Abstract

Background: Falls are the leading cause of fatal injury, and most common cause of non-fatal trauma, among older adults. We sought to elicit older patient’s perspectives on fall risks for the general population as well as contributions to any personal falls to identify opportunities to improve fall education. Methods: Ten patients with a history of falls from inpatient trauma and outpatient geriatric services were interviewed. Transcripts were analyzed independently by five individuals using triangulation and constant comparison (NVivo11, QSR International) to compare fall risks to fall causes. Results: All patients reported that either they (9/10 participants) or someone they knew (8/10) had fallen. Despite this, only two personally worried about falling. Patient perceptions of fall risks fell into seven major themes: physiologic decline (8/10); underestimating limitations (7/10); environmental hazards (7/10), lack of awareness/rushing (4/10), misuse/lack of walking aids (3/10); positional transitions (2/10), and improper footwear (1/10). In contrast, the most commonly reported causes of personal falls were lack of awareness/rushing (7/10), environmental hazards (3/10), misuse/lack of walking aids (2/10), improper footwear (2/10), physiologic decline (2/10), underestimating limitations (1/10) and positional transitions (1/10). In general tended to attribute their own falls to their surroundings and were less likely to attribute physical or psychological limitations. Conclusion: Despite participants identifying falls as a serious problem, they were unlikely to worry about falling themselves. Participants were able to identify common fall risks. However, when speaking about personal experience, they were more likely to blame environmental hazards or rushing, and minimized the role of physiologic decline and personal limitations.

Subjects

Subjects :
Geriatrics
RC952-954.6

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
23337214
Volume :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b190a7a3212469ab949e64b3b7bd30d
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/2333721420967884