An interdisciplinary approach for reducing falls related to orthostatic hypotension on a Veteran Administration long...

Falls in the long-term care setting occur often, have a multifactorial etiology, and can result in injury and even death. This quality improvement project focused on older adult Veterans and aimed to decrease falls post-intervention from orthostatic hypotension (OH).

Two rounds of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model of quality improvement were completed. Round one included OH evaluation and round two added postprandial OH (PPH) evaluation. Each round included interdisciplinary team meetings to establish interventions to treat positive OH/PPH.

Of the twenty-five Veterans screened, twelve were OH or PPH positive with seven being negative post-intervention. Comparing fall rates three months pre/post intervention, three reduced, four increased, four had no change, and one was unobtainable.

Evaluation of fall risk is key for reducing future falls. This project found that one critical consideration is timing of evaluation, and that inclusion of a postprandial evaluation could increase the identification of OH.