Preventing falls of the elderly at home: Applying the precaution adoption process model

Falling in the elderly causes a variety of issues such as dependence, decreased self-efficacy, depression and limitation in daily activities, hospitalization and imposition of costs on the individual and society. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevention of falls in the elderly at home by applying the Precaution Adoption Process Model.

In this quasi-experimental study, 200 elderly people participated, 100 of whom were in the intervention group and 100 in the control group. The sample was provided via stratified random sampling. The data collection instruments were a researcher-made questionnaire including demographic details, as well as the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) questionnaire. Educational intervention was performed during four 45-minute sessions, following which the data was analyzed through SPSS 20 software and was evaluated based on the Chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, and Fisher's exact tests.

Investigating the distribution of participants in the phases of the PAPM indicated that most participants of both the intervention and control groups were in the passive fall prevention phase before treatment. However, after the intervention, most participants of the intervention group were in the active phases of fall prevention, while there were not any significant changes in the control group. Moreover, comparing the mean of the structures of knowledge, sensitivity, severity, benefits, perceived self-efficiency, and the cues to action in terms of preventing falls after the intervention, showed a significant increase in these structures in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.001). Eventually, the findings of the study showed a significant decrease in the percentage of falls of the participants of the intervention group compared to that of the control group after the intervention (P = 0.004).

Educational intervention on the basis of the PAPM promoted the elderly precaution from passive phases to active phases of preventing falls, thereby resulting in a decrease in the number of falls of elderly people.