The Development of a Fall Risk Assessment for the Elderly in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province

Abstract

Background and Aims: Physical deterioration and the development of various diseases in the elderly are important factors leading to falls. There are many related factors, such as age, health, lifestyle, and living environment. Therefore, assessing the risk of falls in the elderly requires the use of appropriate and effective assessment tools or forms. However, there is currently no fall risk assessment form that can fully address specific contexts or areas. In some cases, multiple assessment forms must be used together to obtain more complete and comprehensive data. Therefore, the objective of this research is to develop a fall risk assessment form for the elderly in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province, so that personnel can use it conveniently and in line with the context of the target area. The research was conducted according to the PDCA quality cycle process, divided into 3 phases: Phase 1: Pre-development phase for the elderly risk assessment form; Phase 2: Development phase for the elderly risk assessment form; and Phase 3: Trial and improvement phase for the elderly risk assessment form.

Methodology: The sample group used in this research was 25 professional nurses and public health academics who were specifically selected. The research instruments were two questionnaires: 1) the assessment form for the risk of falling in the elderly in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province, and 2) the assessment form for the effectiveness of the assessment form for the risk of falling in the elderly in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province. The assessment form was examined for content validity by five experts. The data analysis statistics were descriptive, including frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.

Results: 1) The developed fall risk assessment form for the elderly in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province, consisted of personal data (age, gender, status, residence, education level, occupation, and income), internal factors related to the health and behavior of the elderly (age, body weight, history of falls, movement and balance, vision, depression, dementia, medication use, chronic diseases, risky behavior, carelessness in movement, lack of exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking), and external factors related to the environment and care. (Indoor space conditions, lighting conditions, stairs and walkways, home decoration, outdoor living environment, use of walking aids, family or caregiver care, toilet use) 2) Most of the respondents were public health academics (64.00%). They worked at Subdistrict Health Promoting Hospitals (HPH) (100%). They were aged 41-50 years (44.00%) and were mostly female (72.00%). They had more than 3 years of experience in caring for the elderly (76.00%) and had a bachelor's degree (76.00%). In addition, most of the respondents had experience in using the assessment form regularly (56.00%). 2) Obstacles and problems in using the fall risk assessment form for the elderly were found, with the areas without problems and obstacles being communication with the elderly (92.00%) and the completeness of the assessment form. Covering 88.00 percent of factors, 84.00 percent of assessment criteria, 76.00 percent of understanding the assessment form, and 72.00 percent of minor problems and obstacles were assessment time, and 56.00 percent of application in real environments. The overall suitability of the elderly fall risk assessment form was at an appropriate level.

Conclusion: The form of elderly fall risk assessment form in Mueang District, Chaiyaphum Province, was developed using the PDCA quality cycle process, divided into 3 phases: Phase 1: Pre-development phase of the elderly risk assessment form (Plan), Phase 2: Development of the elderly risk assessment form, and Phase 3: Trial use and improvement of the elderly risk assessment form (Do, Check, Act), which consists of 2 important factors: internal factors related to the health and behavior of the elderly and external factors related to the environment and care. From the evaluation of the effectiveness of the fall risk assessment form for the elderly, it was found that the areas with minor obstacles and problems were the assessment time at 72.00 percent, the usability in real environments at 56.00 percent, and the overall suitability of the fall risk assessment form for the elderly was at an appropriate level.