ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2015
Why do hospitalized older adults take risks that may lead to falls?
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Systematic Review of Patients' Perceptions of the Contributing Factors That Led to Falling in Acute Care Hospitals During Their Hospitalisation.Nursing open · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to reduce falls in hospitals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2022Pooled it
- Preventing hospital falls: feasibility of care workforce redesign to optimise patient falls education.Age and ageing · 2024Trial
- Home environmental assessments and modification delivered by occupational therapists to reduce falls in people aged 65 years and over: the OTIS RCT.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2021Trial
- Perspectives of older adults regarding barriers and enablers to engaging in fall prevention activities after hospital discharge.Health & social care in the community · 2020Trial
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- 'It promoted a positive culture around falls prevention': staff response to a patient education programme-a qualitative evaluation.BMJ open · 2016Trial
- 'My independent streak may get in the way': how older adults respond to falls prevention education in hospital.BMJ open · 2016Trial
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- Trial
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- Circumstances of falls and falls-related injuries in a cohort of older patients following hospital discharge.Clinical interventions in aging · 2013Trial
- Beyond patient education: fall prevention knowledge, health literacy, and implementation gaps in Chinese hospitals-a patient-caregiver study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Falls risk perception among older adults and carers: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Older adults do not consistently overestimate their action opportunities across different settings.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A High Fall Risk Patient Perspective-Reducing Safety Challenges in an Acute Care Hospital.Nursing open · 2025Article
- Factors involved in the development of hospital-acquired conditions in older patients in acute care settings: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Implementing falls prevention patient education in hospitals - older people's views on barriers and enablers.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Risk stratification for early and late falls in acute care settings.Journal of clinical nursing · 2023Article
- Interprofessional education to implement patient falls education in hospitals: Lessons learned.Nursing open · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe behaviour of hospitalized older adults can contribute to falls, a common adverse event during and after hospitalization.
objectiveTo understand why older adults take risks that may lead to falls in the hospital setting and in the transition period following discharge home.
designQualitative research. SETTING AND
participantsHospital patients from inpatient medical and rehabilitation wards (n = 16), their informal caregivers (n = 8), and health professionals (n = 33) recruited from Southern Health hospital facilities, Victoria, Australia. MAIN VARIABLES STUDIED: Perceived motivations for, and factors contributing to risk taking that may lead to falls.
main outcome measuresSemi-structured, in depth interviews and focus groups were used to generate qualitative data. Interviews were conducted both 2 weeks post-hospitalization and 3 months post-hospitalization.
resultsRisk taking was classified as; (i) enforced (ii) voluntary and informed and (iii) voluntary and mal informed. Five key factors that influence risk taking behaviour were (i) risk compensation ability of the older adult, (ii) willingness to ask for help, (iii) older adult desire to test their physical boundaries, (iv) communication failure between and within older adults, informal care givers and health professionals and (v) delayed provision of help. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionTension exists between taking risks as a part of rehabilitation and the effect it has on likelihood of falling. Health professionals and caregivers played a central role in mitigating unnecessary risk taking, though some older adults appear more likely to take risks than others by virtue of their attitudes.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.