Trial reportHealth technology assessment (Winchester, England)2022
A multidomain decision support tool to prevent falls in older people: the FinCH cluster RCT.
Trial report in Health technology assessment (Winchester, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions for preventing falls in older people in care facilities.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Decision aids for people facing health treatment or screening decisions.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a theory-informed intervention to increase care home staff influenza vaccination rates: a cluster randomised controlled trial.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2025Trial
- Falls Among Residents Living in Care Homes Using Real-Time Data Collection: A Large UK Case-Control Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Development of a National Ménière's Disease Registry: A Feasibility Study.The journal of international advanced otology · 2024Observational
- Understanding Pathways into Care-homes using Data (UnPiCD study): a two-part model to estimate inpatient and care-home costs using national linked health and social care data.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- A 10-step participatory program for developing, implementing, and evaluating physical activity promoting actions in nursing homes in Germany.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Effective approaches to public involvement in care home research: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Research involvement and engagement · 2023Article
- Piloting of a minimum data set for older people living in care homes in England: protocol for a longitudinal, mixed-methods study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Data resource profile: the virtual international care homes trials archive (VICHTA).International journal of population data science · 2023Review
- Article
- A realist evaluation of a multifactorial falls prevention programme in care homes.Age and ageing · 2022Article
- World guidelines for falls prevention and management for older adults: a global initiative.Age and ageing · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
21 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFalls in care home residents are common, unpleasant, costly and difficult to prevent.
objectivesThe objectives were to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the Guide to Action for falls prevention in Care Homes (GtACH) programme.
designA multicentre, cluster, parallel, 1 : 1 randomised controlled trial with embedded process evaluation and economic evaluation. Care homes were randomised on a 1 : 1 basis to the GtACH programme or usual care using a secure web-based randomisation service. Research assistants, participating residents and staff informants were blind to allocation at recruitment; research assistants were blind to allocation at follow-up. NHS Digital data were extracted blindly.
settingOlder people's care homes from 10 UK sites.
participantsOlder care home residents.
interventionThe GtACH programme, which includes care home staff training, systematic use of a multidomain decision support tool and implementation of falls prevention actions, compared to usual falls prevention care. OUTCOMES: The primary trial outcome was the rate of falls per participating resident occurring during the 90-day period between 91 and 180 days post randomisation. The primary outcome for the cost-effectiveness analysis was the cost per fall averted, and the primary outcome for the cost-utility analysis was the incremental cost per quality adjusted life-year. Secondary outcomes included the rate of falls over days 0-90 and 181-360 post randomisation, activity levels, dependency and fractures. The number of falls per resident was compared between arms using a negative binomial regression model (generalised estimating equation).
resultsA total of 84 care homes were randomised: 39 to the GtACH arm and 45 to the control arm. A total of 1657 residents consented and provided baseline measures (mean age 85 years, 32% men). GtACH programme training was delivered to 1051 staff (71% of eligible staff) over 146 group sessions. Primary outcome data were available for 630 GtACH participants and 712 control participants. The primary outcome result showed an unadjusted incidence rate ratio of 0.57 (95% CI 0.45 to 0.71;
conclusionThe GtACH programme significantly reduced the falls rate in the study care homes without restricting residents' activity levels or increasing their dependency, and was cost-effective at current thresholds in the NHS. FUTURE WORK: Future work should include a broad implementation programme, focusing on scale and sustainability of the GtACH programme. LIMITATIONS: A key limitation was the fact that care home staff were not blinded, although risk was small because of the UK statutory requirement to record falls in care homes.
trial registrationThis trial is registered as ISRCTN34353836.
fundingThis project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in
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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.