Effects of a one-year home-based case management intervention on falls in older people: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: to investigate the effects of a home-based one-year case management intervention in older people with functional dependency and repeated contact with the health care services on self-reported falls and self-reported injurious falls. METHODS: the study was a randomized controlled trial with repeated follow-ups. The sample (n = 153) was consecutively and randomly assigned to the intervention group (n = 80, mean age = 81.4 [SD 5.9]) or control group (n = 73, mean age = 81.6 [SD 6.8]). The intervention group received a case management intervention which comprised monthly home visits during 12 months by nurses and physiotherapists employing a multifactorial preventive approach. RESULTS: in the intervention group, 96 falls occurred during the intervention period compared with 85 falls in the control group (p = .900). There were 40 and 38 injurious falls (p = .669) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: this home-based case management intervention was not able to prevent falls or injurious falls.