effects of a health education program on fall risk prevention among the urban elderly: a quasi-experimental study

Background: elderly falls increase dramatically with age and are a leading cause of injury, carrying a risk of loss of independence and death. we studied the effects of a health education program on fall-risk prevention among urban elderly persons in the municipality of khon kaen, thailand. methods: a quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2 communities. the calculated sample size was 216 individuals: 108 for intervention and 108 for control, all of whom were 60 or older, and registered at the sam-lium primary care unit (spcu). the educational intervention was a fall risk intervention program by an elderly buddy. a structured questionnaire that incorporated questions from the thai fall risk assessment tool (thai-frat) was used to collect general and specific information. data were analyzed using the independent sample t-test and 2, with p<0.05 being statistically significant. results: the response rate was 94.4%. more than half of the respondents were at risk of a fall. the prevalence of risk of a fall among the intervention group was slightly less than that for those within the control group [in-tervention group=52.9% (95%ci: 42.85, 62.81, p<0.001); control group=60.8% (95%ci: 50.59, 70.15, p=0.016)]. after 6 months of intervention, the balance impairment, medicine usage, and overall proportion with risk of fall were decreased. the difference between the intervention and control groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). conclusion: the provision of a health education program designed for fall risk prevention among the elderly would be a useful public health initiative.