Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39548032›Full record

Trial reportEuropean geriatric medicine2025

On-site physiotherapy in older emergency department patients following a fall: a randomized controlled trial.

Jonathan Benhamou, Tanguy Espejo, Henk B Riedel, Thomas Dreher-Hummel, Ana García-Martínez, Barbara Gubler-Gut, Joris Kirchberger, Jan-Arie Overberg, Guido Perrot, Roland Bingisser and 1 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European geriatric medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05156944 (Effect of Physiotherapy in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department After a Fall. A Brief Intervention Focusing on Patient Reported Outcomes), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT05156944 nacompletednot on this map

Effect of Physiotherapy in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department After a Fall. A Brief Intervention Focusing on Patient Reported Outcomes

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity Hospital, Basel, SwitzerlandRan2022 to 2023Enrolled104ConditionsFear of FallingArmsphysiotherapeutic intervention
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Emergency Department Visit Outcomes of a Multicenter Randomized Trial of a Fall Prevention Intervention.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026
    Trial
  3. Physical and Occupational Therapist Evaluations for Fall Prevention in the Emergency Department: A Geriatric ED Guidelines 2.0 Systematic Review.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Jonathan BenhamouEmergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 2, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Tanguy EspejoEmergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 2, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Henk B RiedelEmergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 2, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Thomas Dreher-HummelEmergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 2, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Ana García-MartínezEmergency Department, Hospital Clínic, C. de Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain.
Barbara Gubler-GutDepartment of Therapies, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Joris KirchbergerDepartment of Therapies, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Jan-Arie OverbergDepartment of Therapies, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Guido PerrotDepartment of Therapies, University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Roland BingisserEmergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 2, 4031, Basel, Switzerland.
Christian H NickelEmergency Department, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 2, 4031, Basel, Switzerland. christian.nickel@usb.ch.

Funding

Universitätsspital Basel FO112801
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeGreater fear of falling (FOF) is associated with an increased risk of falling in patients aged 65 and older. This study aims to assess the impact of physiotherapy on FOF in older patients and investigates the feasibility of such an intervention in the emergency department (ED) setting.

methodsAll patients aged 65 or older, who presented to the ED of the University Hospital Basel after a fall between January 2022 and June 2023 were screened for inclusion. Participants were assigned to an intervention or control group depending on the randomized presence or absence of a physiotherapist at inclusion. Both groups received the same fall prevention booklet. Physiotherapists instructed and performed exercises with patients in the intervention group. The primary outcome was the difference in FOF between groups 7 days post inclusion, assessed by short Falls Efficacy Scale International (sFES-I). Secondary outcomes included feasibility, overall reduction of FOF, patient satisfaction, the occurrence of falls post inclusion and the use of medical resources.

resultsOf the 1204 patients screened for inclusion, 104 older adults with a recent fall were enrolled (intervention: n = 44, control: n = 60); median age was 81 years and 59.1% were female. There was no between-group difference in FOF as measured by sFES-I within a week of inclusion (p = 0.663, effect size = 0.012 [95% confidence interval (CI) - 0.377 to 0.593]). Despite the intervention being deemed feasible from the physiotherapist's perspective, the study encountered challenges, such as low recruitment (with the planned sample size not being reached) and a notable dropout rate before the first follow-up.

conclusionA physiotherapy intervention in the ED showed no improvement in FOF when compared to a control group.

trial registrationTrial registration number and date NCT05156944, 01.12.2021.

Indexed as

Accidental FallsEmergency Service, HospitalFearPhysical Therapy ModalitiesAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansMalePatient SatisfactionEmergency departmentFallsFeasibilityOlderPhysiotherapyRandomized controlled trial

Identifiers

PMID39548032
PMCPMC11850422

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.