Keywords
Elderly inpatients
Fall prevention
Submitted : 2025-07-09
Accepted : 2025-07-24
Published : 2025-08-08
Abstract
Objective: To analyze the application effect of the Behavior Change Wheel (BCW) theory in fall prevention management for elderly inpatients. Methods: One hundred elderly inpatients admitted to Kunshan Fourth People’s Hospital from January 2019 to April 2024 were selected and divided into an experimental group (fall prevention management intervention based on BCW theory) and a control group (routine fall prevention management intervention) using random sampling, with 50 patients in each group. The differences in knowledge, attitude, and behavior levels of fall prevention, prevention efficacy, and the incidence of falls and fall-related injuries during hospitalization, 6 months after discharge, and 1 year after discharge were compared between the two groups. Results: Compared with before the intervention, the scores of the fall prevention knowledge, attitude, and behavior scale (knowledge dimension, attitude dimension, behavior dimension, and total score) for elderly inpatients in both groups increased, and the improvement in the experimental group was greater than that in the control group (P < 0.05). After the intervention, the revised fall efficacy scale score was higher in the experimental group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of falls during hospitalization, 6 months after discharge, and 1 year after discharge, as well as the rate of fall-related injuries 6 months and 1 year after discharge, were lower in the experimental group than in the control group (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of fall-related injuries during hospitalization between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The fall prevention management intervention based on BCW theory has good application value in elderly inpatients. It effectively improves patients’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior levels regarding fall prevention, significantly enhances their self-prevention efficacy, and demonstrates good results in reducing the incidence of falls during hospitalization and after discharge.
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