Falls prevention at GP practices: a description of daily practice

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Primary Care Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• General practitioners (GPs) are key in identifying high fall risk and guiding preventive care for older adults.
• Current understanding of GPs' practices in managing fall risk in frail patients is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the daily practices of GPs concerning fall preventive care for frail older patients.
• To identify how GPs assess and manage fall risk in their elderly patient population.

Main Methods:

• A 12-month study involving 65 GPs across 32 Dutch practices.
• An electronic health record (EHR) pop-up system prompted GPs to confirm frailty and complete questionnaires on fall history, fear of falling (FOF), and provided care for 1394 patients aged ≥75.

Main Results:

• GPs were unaware of fall history in 20% and FOF in 29% of frail patients.
• Only 37% of patients with a fall history and/or FOF received preventive care.
• Key barriers included patient reluctance to intensive treatment (37%) and patient's lack of acknowledgment of high fall risk (14%).

Conclusions:

• GPs frequently lack awareness of fall history and FOF in frail older patients.
• The majority of high-risk patients do not receive recommended fall preventive care.
• Systematic screening strategies in primary care are needed to improve identification and provision of fall prevention, enhancing quality of life and reducing costs.