Effectiveness of Virtual Self-Care Training on Preventing Falls at Home Among Older People: A Quasi-Experimental Study; اثربخشی آموزش مجازی خود مراقبتی بر پیشگیری از سقوط سالمندان در منزل: یک مطالعه نیمه تجربی Publisher



M Tajvar MARYAM ; A Jahanbani AZAR ; Ob Atashbahar Omolbanin B ; M Ashoorkhani MAHNAZ
Source: Iranian Journal of Ageing Published:2024

Abstract

Objectives: Falling in the elderly can have significant negative consequences on the health and quality of life of this age group. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of virtual self-care training on the knowledge, attitude and performance of older people in preventing falls at home. Materials and methods: A quasi -experimental intervention with a before and after evaluation design was conducted on 120 people aged 65 years and older referring to Health Centers in Southen Tehran, in 2021. Before the intervention, the research questionnaire was completed by the participants. The intervention was designed and presented in the form of a virtual training program for self-care and fall prevention at home. Immediately and three months after the intervention, the questionnaire was filled again by the elderly. Data analysis was done by SPSS 26 software using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation and analytical statistics including independent t-test, Mann-Whitney and chi-square. Findings: About 22% of the studied elderly had a history of falling in the past year. The mean scores of the elderly immediately after the intervention in each of studied dimensions were: awareness (18.39±2.86), attitude (14.99±2.51) and performance (13.76±3.1) of self-care in preventing falls at home which was significantly higher than pre-test scores (P<0.001). Also, the mean scores of the elderly three months after the intervention were: awareness (18.18±1.14), attitude (14.91±1.57) and performance (9.06±2.78) which compared to pre-test scores was significantly higher (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Considering the living conditions of the elderly and the less social access to this vulnerable age group, virtual training on fall prevention at home can significantly affected on increase the knowledge of the elderly about fall prevention methods, their attitude about the usefulness of fall prevention measures and their preventive practices to reduce the risk of falling. © 2024 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.