SynthesisPloS one2017
Compliant flooring to prevent fall-related injuries in older adults: A scoping review of biomechanical efficacy, clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and workplace safety.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Compliant sports floors and fall-related injuries: evidence from a residential care setting and updated meta-analysis for all patient care settings.Injury prevention : journal of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention · 2023Pooled it
- The Effect of Human Settlement Pedestrian Environment on Gait of Older People: An Umbrella Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- The SAFEST review: a mixed methods systematic review of shock-absorbing flooring for fall-related injury prevention.BMC geriatrics · 2022Pooled it
- The Flooring for Injury Prevention (FLIP) Study of compliant flooring for the prevention of fall-related injuries in long-term care: A randomized trial.PLoS medicine · 2019Trial
- Fallville: A Perspective on an Interactive Pedagogical Tool to Enhance Understanding and Implementation of Fall-Compliant Flooring.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Activities of daily living mediate the association between balance and falls in middle aged and older adults.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Hip Fractures: Clinical, Biomaterial and Biomechanical Insights into a Common Health Challenge.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Epidemiology of geriatric orthopaedic injuries in a tertiary hospital in southwestern Nigeria.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Minimizing fall-related injuries in at-risk older adults: The falling safely training (FAST) study protocol.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2023Article
- Potential Solutions for the Mitigation of Hip Injuries Caused by Falls in Older Adults: A Narrative Review.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2023Review
- A comparison of floor surfaces for injury prevention in care settings: impact forces and horizontal pulling force required to move wheeled equipment.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2020Article
- Article
- Effects of Compliant Flooring on Dynamic Balance and Gait Characteristics of Community-dwelling Older Persons.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2019Article
- There is more to life than risk avoidance - elderly people's experiences of falls, fall-injuries and compliant flooring.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2018Article
- Long-term evaluation of the implementation of a large fall and fracture prevention program in long-term care facilities.BMC geriatrics · 2018Article
- Observational
- Reduction in Fall Rate in Dementia Managed Care Through Video Incident Review: Pilot Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCompliant flooring, broadly defined as flooring systems or floor coverings with some level of shock absorbency, may reduce the incidence and severity of fall-related injuries in older adults; however, a lack of synthesized evidence may be limiting widespread uptake.
methodsInformed by the Arksey and O'Malley framework and guided by a Research Advisory Panel of knowledge users, we conducted a scoping review to answer: what is presented about the biomechanical efficacy, clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and workplace safety associated with compliant flooring systems that aim to prevent fall-related injuries in healthcare settings? We searched academic and grey literature databases. Any record that discussed a compliant flooring system and at least one of biomechanical efficacy, clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, or workplace safety was eligible for inclusion. Two independent reviewers screened and abstracted records, charted data, and summarized results.
resultsAfter screening 3611 titles and abstracts and 166 full-text articles, we included 84 records plus 56 companion (supplementary) reports. Biomechanical efficacy records (n = 50) demonstrate compliant flooring can reduce fall-related impact forces with minimal effects on standing and walking balance. Clinical effectiveness records (n = 20) suggest that compliant flooring may reduce injuries, but may increase risk for falls. Preliminary evidence suggests that compliant flooring may be a cost-effective strategy (n = 12), but may also result in increased physical demands for healthcare workers (n = 17).
conclusionsIn summary, compliant flooring is a promising strategy for preventing fall-related injuries from a biomechanical perspective. Additional research is warranted to confirm whether compliant flooring (i) prevents fall-related injuries in real-world settings, (ii) is a cost-effective intervention strategy, and (iii) can be installed without negatively impacting workplace safety. Avenues for future research are provided, which will help to determine whether compliant flooring is recommended in healthcare environments.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.