Risk and Preventive Measures Among Older Adults in Nursing Homes in Saudi Arabia: An Exploratory Study on Falls

Falls among older adults are a pervasive and significant concern worldwide. A practice guideline has been developed to address the prevention of falls and their resulting consequences in hospital and long-term care settings.

The study aimed to assess the fall down rate and preventive tools among older adult patients in nursing homes.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected older adult patients by using a questionnaire with the Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries (STEADI) tool in nursing homes at the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development.

Among 323 older adult patients, most of them (73.1%) were male, 23.8% were from Makkah, and the age ranged from 60 to 90 years and older. Results showed that 64.8% had a psychiatric disorder, 41.8% had hypertension, 38.4% had diabetes, 38.1% had movement disorders, 11.3% had heart diseases, and 1.5% had no chronic conditions. The mean STEADI tool score was 3.5 out of 12, and of the 323 older adult patients, 51.7% had a low risk to fall and 48.3% had a high risk to fall. Of the 13 interventions used to prevent falls, the most used intervention was rehabilitative physical therapy, followed by providing patient facilities and muscle strengthening exercises.

The level of falls was markedly low, and a significant correlation was observed between the risk of falling and the participants' region of residence.