The impact of implementing a fall prevention educational session for community-dwelling physical therapy patients.

Only eight participants completed the study, so the results are too small to guide practice. Twenty were evaluated, ten met criteria, and two withdrew because they could not complete the second session or had transportation problems. The sample came from one private physical therapy clinic in Southern Georgia, so it may not represent other community-dwelling patients. The intervention combined nurse practitioner-led education, a resource booklet, and physical therapist-led education, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The primary outcome was fall risk awareness; fall reduction was an additional objective, and one participant fell at 60 days. Follow-up was only 30 and 60 days and relied on phone interviews, which the authors note can be affected by reception, hearing difficulties, schedules, and distractions. Participants had to ambulate and not score below 18 on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, so it says little about patients who cannot ambulate or who have lower cognitive scores.

The author declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that this fall education programme prevents falls. The clear result was increased fall risk awareness in eight participants, and one participant still fell at 60 days; the pilot cannot show a true reduction in falls.