Video-based fall prevention education for cognitively impaired inpatients: a pilot study

Background. Inpatient falls complicate and lengthen hospital admissions for older adults. Cognitive impairment is a risk factor for falls. Current fall prevention education is ineffective for people with cognitive impairment. We aimed to investigate whether an educational video is a better mode of delivery than verbal education for individuals with cognitive impairment in terms of recall and fall prevention. Methods: In a randomised controlled trial, patients were assigned at random to receive fall prevention education either verbally or through an educational video. The co-primary outcomes were recall at 1 day and number of falls. Results: Of 21 and 31 participants assigned to receive video education (intervention) and verbal education (active comparator), respectively, 19 and 31 completed the study, respectively. The percentage of participants who recalled the fall prevention message was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the active comparator group (31.5% [6/19] vs 9.7% [3/31], p=0.03). There was no significant difference in the fall rate between groups. Conclusion: Fall prevention education delivered using a video may be better retained by individuals with cognitive impairment when compared with the standard practice of verbal fall prevention education. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings.