Reducing Femoral Fractures in Nursing Homes
Author Information
Author(s): Clemens Becker, Ian D. Cameron, Jochen Klenk, Ulrich Lindemann, Sven Heinrich, Hans-Helmut König, Kilian Rapp
Primary Institution: Robert-Bosch-Hospital, Stuttgart, Germany
Hypothesis
Does a fall and fracture prevention program reduce the incidence of femoral fractures in nursing homes?
Conclusion
The implementation of a fall and fracture prevention program significantly reduced femoral fractures in nursing home residents.
Supporting Evidence
- The intervention group had a femoral fracture rate of 33.6 per 1000 person-years compared to 41.0 in the control group.
- The adjusted relative risk of femoral fractures was 0.82 for the intervention group.
- The study included over 40,000 participants from more than 1,000 institutions.
Takeaway
This study shows that teaching nursing home staff how to prevent falls can help keep older people from breaking their hips.
Methodology
A fall prevention program was introduced in 256 nursing homes, and femoral fracture rates were compared with a control group of 893 nursing homes.
Potential Biases
Selection bias may exist as the intervention homes were not randomized.
Limitations
The study design was not randomized, which may have influenced the outcomes.
Participant Demographics
Residents aged 65 and older, primarily female (78.8%), with a mean age of 84.3 years.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.82
Confidence Interval
0.72-0.93
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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