Fall prevention education for people with multiple sclerosis: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND Online spaced education (OSE) is a method recognized for promoting long-term knowledge retention, changing behaviors and improving outcomes for students and healthcare professionals. However, there is little evidence about its impacts on patient education. OBJECTIVES The aim of this research was to compare knowledge retention using educational brochure and OSE on individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to verify the impact of educational methods on fall outcome. METHODS Individuals with MS (n = 230) were randomly assigned to two types of patient education-educational brochure (control) and OSE (intervention). During 12 weeks, the intervention group received multiple-choice tests on fall prevention. Knowledge retention, behavior change and fall incidence were assessed before intervention and after 3 and 6 months. The participants' satisfaction with the education method was also evaluated. RESULTS Knowledge retention was similar between groups, and behavior change was observed in both groups. There was a significant reduction in fall rate in the intervention group, from 0.60 to 0.27 at 6 months (P < 0.001). Participants' satisfaction achieved an average of 8.75, with no differences between groups. CONCLUSION Individuals demonstrated significant improvement in fall rate outcome in both groups with no significant difference. In regard to test scores and satisfaction, results were similar between groups.