Educational intervention to reduce falls and fear of falling in patients after fragility fracture: Results of a controlled pilot study

OBJECTIVES.: Falls and fear of falling are a major health problem. We sought to determine the effectiveness of an educational intervention in reducing fear of falling and preventing recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients after a fragility fracture. METHODS.: One hundred two community-dwelling patients aged 50 years or older who fell and sustained a wrist fracture and were treated at Emergency Departments in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (2001-2002) were allocated to either standardized educational leaflets and post-discharge telephone counseling regarding fall prevention strategies ("intervention") or attention-controls ("controls"). Main outcomes were fear of falling and recurrent falls 3 months after fracture. RESULTS.: Mean age was 67 years and most patients were female (80%). The majority of falls (76%) leading to fracture occurred outdoors. Three months post-fracture, almost half of patients (48%) reported increased fear of falling and 11 of 102 (11%) reported falling again. The intervention did not reduce the fear of falling (43% had increased fear vs. 53% of controls, adjusted P value = 0.55) or decrease recurrent falls (17% fell vs. 5% of controls, adjusted P value = 0.059) within 3 months of fracture. CONCLUSIONS.: An educational intervention undertaken in the Emergency Department was no more effective than usual care in reducing fear of falling or recurrent falls in community-dwelling patients. Future strategies must address a number of dimensions beyond simple education.