Implementation of a multifactorial fall intervention model to guide hospital nurses: A quasi-experimental before-and-after study

Falls are serious public health problems associated with irreversible health consequences and substantial economic burden, which are currently difficult to prevent and manage. Nurses have always been the main force in the prevention and control of falls. To develop and evaluate a comprehensive fall intervention model for hospital nurses to manage falls. This was a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the effect of a newly designed hospital fall intervention model on fall management by nurses. The control group consisted of 153,601 hospitalized patients who received standard fall care from 2015 to 2016, while the Multifactorial Fall Intervention Model (MFIM) group included 171,776 inpatients managed with the new intervention model from 2017 to 2018. Patients' information and data were extracted from the medical records of our hospital. We recorded a total of 396 falls in the MFIM group with a remarkably declined fall rate (MFIM group: 0.22% vs. control group: 0.31%, p = 0.000) and fall rate per 1000 patient-days (0.22‰ vs. 0.29‰, p = 0.000) as compared with a total of 491 falls in the control group. The adjusted incidence rate ratio of falls was 0.721. Furthermore, the occurrence and the severity of fall injuries in the MFIM group were significantly lower than that in the control group. The MFIM model demonstrated a favorable effect in reducing the occurrence of falls and fall-related injuries among hospitalized patients. These findings suggest that the implementation of MFIM can significantly enhance patient safety and should be considered for broader adoption in hospital settings to mitigate fall risks.