Preventing Falls in Older Adults with Educational Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates the effectiveness of educational interventions in preventing falls and related outcomes in older adults.

A systematic review with meta-analysis, including the CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and PEDro databases was conducted. Randomized controlled clinical trials that presented interventions and educational strategies for preventing and reducing falls were included. The risk of bias was assessed using version 2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials.

Of the 3,066 identified articles, 17 were included. There was great heterogeneity among the educational strategies used, settings, sample sizes, follow-up, and quality of the studies. The meta-analyses revealed no significant differences between the control and intervention groups for total fallers (RR=1.08 [0.99-1.18]), falls with hospitalization (RR=1.05 [0.59-1.87]), falls with fractures (RR=0.64 [0.37-1.11]), falls with injuries (RR=1.13 [0.98-1.30]), number of falls (SMD = 0.07 [-0.06 to 0.20]), and fear of falling ((Self-Efficacy Scale) SMD=0.05 [-0.24 to 0.34]).

Findings indicate educational interventions alone may not significantly reduce falls among older adults, emphasizing the need for integrated, multi-component strategies. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity of randomized controlled trials may have impacted the results obtained.

CRD42023458558.