Pilot Study of a Fall Prevention and Management Intervention Program for People With Multiple Sclerosis Who Use a Wheelchair or Scooter Full-Time.
Laura A Rice, Rebecca Yarnot, JongHun Sung and 5 others
PMID 36545518WHAT IT FOUND
Falls did not change in a way the study could show after a six-session group program for full-time wheelchair or scooter users with MS.
Transfer quality, fall prevention strategies, and perceived importance of community participation improved.
Key findings
01Transfer quality significantly improved across visits, from 7.35 at visit 1 to 8.63 at visit 3 on a 0 to 10 scale.
02Fall incidence did not show a significant change: mean falls were 1.48 in period 1 and 1.29 in period 3, and the 12.84% reduction was not significant.
03Fall prevention strategy scores rose from 11.57 to 14.1 on a 0 to 22 scale, and fall management scores moved from 11.7 to 9.38, where lower scores mean greater confidence, in significant visit 1 to visit 2 changes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 24 people were enrolled and 21 completed the intervention, so the results are limited. The study had no control group, so changes could have happened over time without the intervention. The study tested several outcomes without correcting for multiple comparisons. Transportation and time commitments limited participation, and some participants withdrew because of transportation or loss of interest. Participants with lower baseline wheelchair skills were less likely to complete the program, so results may favour people who already had better skills. Few falls occurred for most participants, so the study was not large enough to detect a fall reduction. Multiple sclerosis is a degenerative disease, so outcomes could change over time for reasons unrelated to the program. The interview findings are participant reports about what they felt and said, not measured effects.
Declared interests
The supplied text lists IBM as the SPSS supplier but does not provide a funding or conflict of interest statement.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this program reduces falls. The 12.84% fall reduction was not significant, and the study had no control group, so the change could reflect time or other factors.