Falls in Elderly and Telehealth: a Randomized Controlled Study

Fall incidents are the third cause of chronic disablement in elderly according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Recent meta-analyses shows that a multifactorial falls risk assessment and management programs are effective in all older population studied. However, the application of these programs may not be the same in all National health care setting and, consequently, needs to be evacuated by cost-effectiveness studies before to plan this intervention in regular care. In Italy structured collaboration between hospital staff and primary care is generally lacking and the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in a fall prevention program at home has never been explored. This is a two-group randomized controlled trial aiming to evaluate the effect of a home-based intervention program, delivered by a multidisciplinary health team, in preventing falls in elderly. The home tele-management program, previously adopted in our Institute for chronic patients, will be proposed to elderly people affected by chronic diseases at high risk of falling at time of hospital discharge. The program will involve the hospital staff and will be managed thanks to the collaboration between hospital and primary care setting. Patients will be followed at home for 6 months after hospital discharge. A nurse-tutor will be the case manager and telephone support, telemonitoring and tele-exercise will characterize the intervention program. People in the control group will receive the usual care. The main outcome measure of the study will be the percentage of patients sustaining a fall during the 6-months follow-up period. An economic evaluation will be performed from a societal perspective and will involve calculating cost-effectiveness and cost utility ratios.