Research of audio and video health education program on fall prevention in elderly patients

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of video and audio health education program on fall prevention in elderly patients. Methods The audio and video education program was designed according to the theory of Knowledge, Belief and Behavior, and was played in the wards as planned. A total of 442 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were divided into the experimental group and the control group according to the random number generated by computer. 230 elderly patients in the experimental group were instructed with the fall prevention skill by the video education during hospitalization, and 212 elderly patients in the control group were educated in traditional ways. The incidences of fall, the patients' awareness of the risk factors, the preventive measures and outcome of falls were compared between the two groups. Results The cognition for fall risk factors, fall prevention measures and serious outcome caused by fall in the experimental group was better in the experimental group compared with that in the control group (χ2=11.82, 7.48 and 11.00). The incidence of fall in the experimental group (1.9%,4/212) was less than that in the control group (0), χ2=4.739. The differences were statistically significant. Conclusions Audio and video health education program significantly improved the awareness of the fall prevention in elderly patients, and reduced the fall incidence during hospitalization. Therefore, it is worthy of clinical application. Key words: Video-audio media; Accidental falls; Health education