Abstract
Objective
To characterize self-awareness in older adults undergoing inpatient rehabilitation
and explore factors associated with reduced awareness of falls risk.
Design
Prospective, cross-sectional design.
Setting
Older adult inpatient rehabilitation setting.
Participants
Rehabilitation inpatients (N=91; mean age, 77.97±8.04y) and their treating physiotherapist.
Interventions
None.
Main Outcome Measures
Three aspects of self-awareness (intellectual, emergent, anticipatory) were measured
using the Self-Awareness of Falls Risk Measure. Demographic, medical, and cognitive
(Mini-Mental State Examination) information were collected. Current ability was measured
using the FIM and timed Up and Go test.
Results
Of the patients in the sample, 31% to 63% underestimated falls risk and 3% to 10%
overestimated falls risk depending on the aspect of awareness measured. Different
aspects of reduced self-awareness were correlated with being a man, higher educational
attainment, neurologic history, lower cognitive ability, and lower functional ability.
Regression analysis indicated that sex (β=−.33, P=.004), education (β=−.30, P=.006), and neurologic history (β=−.22, P=.038) were independently associated with overall self-awareness.
Conclusions
The results suggest that a proportion of older adults undergoing inpatient rehabilitation
underestimate personal falls risk. Further research is required to investigate the
contributors to and effects of reduced self-awareness of falls risk. Greater understanding
of these factors will facilitate the development of strategies to increase awareness
of falls risk and increase engagement in falls prevention.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
MMSE (Mini-Mental State Examination), TUG (timed Up and Go)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 21, 2015
Footnotes
Supported by the Monash University Strategic Grant Scheme (grant no. ECD013).
Disclosures: Haines is director of Hospital Falls Prevention Solutions Pty Ltd. This company provides education in provision of the Safe Recovery Program for the prevention of falls in hospitals. He has provided expert witness testimony on the subject of prevention of falls in hospitals for Minter Ellison Law firm. He has accepted payment to speak at conferences on the subject of the prevention of falls in hospitals. The other authors have nothing to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
