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Evaluation of Clinical Practice Guidelines on Fall Prevention and Management for Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

JAMA network open
January 1, 1970
Manuel M Montero-Odasso et al. (20 authors)
Journal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tSystematic ReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to evaluate the agreement and strength of recommendations in clinical practice guidelines for falls prevention and management in older adults, including the role of Vitamin D supplementation.

Results Summary

The study found inconsistent strength in recommendations for Vitamin D supplementation, indicating a lack of consensus on its efficacy in falls prevention among older adults. Other interventions like exercise promotion and medication review had stronger, more consistent recommendations.

Population

Adults aged 60 years or older in various settings (community, acute care, nursing homes).

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (13)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
risk stratification
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#1
assessment tests for gait and balance
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#2
fracture and osteoporosis management
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#3
multifactorial interventions
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#4
medication review
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#5
exercise promotion
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#6
environment modification
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#7
vision and footwear correction
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#8
referral to physiotherapy
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#9
cardiovascular interventions
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
strongly recommended
#10
vitamin D supplementation
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
inconsistent strengths of the recommendations
#11
addressing cognitive factors
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
inconsistent strengths of the recommendations
#12
falls prevention education
no change
falls prevention and management
adults 60 years or older
-
inconsistent strengths of the recommendations
#13
Abstract

IMPORTANCE: With the global population aging, falls and fall-related injuries are ubiquitous, and several clinical practice guidelines for falls prevention and management for individuals 60 years or older have been developed. A systematic evaluation of the recommendations and agreement level is lacking. OBJECTIVES: To perform a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines for falls prevention and management for adults 60 years or older in all settings (eg, community, acute care, and nursing homes), evaluate agreement in recommendations, and identify potential gaps. EVIDENCE REVIEW: A systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses statement methods for clinical practice guidelines on fall prevention and management for older adults was conducted (updated July 1, 2021) using MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, PEDro, and Epistemonikos databases. Medical Subject Headings search terms were related to falls, clinical practice guidelines, management and prevention, and older adults, with no restrictions on date, language, or setting for inclusion. Three independent reviewers selected records for full-text examination if they followed evidence- and consensus-based processes and assessed the quality of the guidelines using Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREE-II) criteria. The strength of the recommendations was evaluated using Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation scores, and agreement across topic areas was assessed using the Fleiss κ statistic. FINDINGS: Of 11 414 records identified, 159 were fully reviewed and assessed for eligibility, and 15 were included. All 15 selected guidelines had high-quality AGREE-II total scores (mean [SD], 80.1% [5.6%]), although individual quality domain scores for clinical applicability (mean [SD], 63.4% [11.4%]) and stakeholder (clinicians, patients, or caregivers) involvement (mean [SD], 76.3% [9.0%]) were lower. A total of 198 recommendations covering 16 topic areas in 15 guidelines were identified after screening 4767 abstracts that proceeded to 159 full texts. Most (≥11) guidelines strongly recommended performing risk stratification, assessment tests for gait and balance, fracture and osteoporosis management, multifactorial interventions, medication review, exercise promotion, environment modification, vision and footwear correction, referral to physiotherapy, and cardiovascular interventions. The strengths of the recommendations were inconsistent for vitamin D supplementation, addressing cognitive factors, and falls prevention education. Recommendations on use of hip protectors and digital technology or wearables were often missing. None of the examined guidelines included a patient or caregiver panel in their deliberations. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This systematic review found that current clinical practice guidelines on fall prevention and management for older adults showed a high degree of agreement in several areas in which strong recommendations were made, whereas other topic areas did not achieve this level of consensus or coverage. Future guidelines should address clinical applicability of their recommendations and include perspectives of patients and other stakeholders.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Accidental FallsAgedAged, 80 and overCombined Modality TherapyConsensusEnvironment DesignHealth PromotionHealth Services for the AgedHumansMedication ReviewMiddle AgedOsteoporosisPhysical Therapy ModalitiesPractice Guidelines as TopicWounds and Injuries
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy50/10
Quality85/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations169
Citations/Year42.3
Relative Citation Ratio21.49
NIH Percentile99.5%
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.95
Weight Score2.10
Normalized Score0.57
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