Costs and Survival of Patients having Experienced a Hospitalized Fall-Related Injury in France: A Population-Based Study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the annual costs 2 years before and 2 years after a hospitalized fall-related injury (HFRI) and the 2-year survival among the population 75+ years old. DESIGN: We performed a population-based, retrospective cohort study using the French national health insurance claims database. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Patients 75+ years old who had experienced a fall followed by hospitalization, identified using an algorithm based on International Classification of Diseases codes. Data related to a non-HFRI population matched on the basis of age, sex, and geographical area were also extracted. METHODS: Cost analyses were performed from a health insurance perspective and included direct costs. Survival analyses were conducted using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression. Descriptive analyses of costs and regression modeling were carried out. Both regression models for costs and on survival were adjusted for age, sex, and comorbidities. RESULTS: A total of 1495 patients with HFRI and 4484 non-HFRI patients were identified. Patients with HFRI were more comorbid than the non-HFRI patients over the entire periods, particularly in the year before and the year after the HFRI. Patients with HFRI have significantly worse survival probabilities, with an adjusted 2.14-times greater risk of death over 2-year follow-up and heterogeneous effects determined by sex. The annual incremental costs between patients with HFRI and non-HFRI individuals were €1294 and €2378, respectively, 2 and 1 year before the HFRI, and €11,796 and €1659, respectively, 1 and 2 years after the HFRI. The main cost components differ according to the periods and are mainly accounted for by paramedical acts, hospitalizations, and drug costs. When fully adjusted, the year before the HFRI and the year after the HFRI are associated with increase in costs. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We have provided real-world estimates of the cost and the survival associated with patients with HFRI. Our results highlight the urgent need to manage patients with HFRI at an early stage to reduce the significant mortality as well as substantial additional cost management. Special attention must be paid to the fall-related increasing drugs and to optimizing management of comorbidities.

Multifactorial falls prevention programme compared with usual care in UK care homes for older people: multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial with economic evaluation.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the clinical and cost effectiveness of a multifactorial fall prevention programme compared with usual care in long term care homes. DESIGN: Multicentre, parallel, cluster randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Long term care homes in the UK, registered to care for older people or those with dementia. PARTICIPANTS: 1657 consenting residents and 84 care homes. 39 were randomised to the intervention group and 45 were randomised to usual care. INTERVENTIONS: Guide to Action for Care Homes (GtACH): a multifactorial fall prevention programme or usual care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measure was fall rate at 91-180 days after randomisation. The economic evaluation measured health related quality of life using quality adjusted life years (QALYs) derived from the five domain five level version of the EuroQoL index (EQ-5D-5L) or proxy version (EQ-5D-5L-P) and the Dementia Quality of Life utility measure (DEMQOL-U), which were self-completed by competent residents and by a care home staff member proxy (DEMQOL-P-U) for all residents (in case the ability to complete changed during the study) until 12 months after randomisation. Secondary outcome measures were falls at 1-90, 181-270, and 271-360 days after randomisation, Barthel index score, and the Physical Activity Measure-Residential Care Homes (PAM-RC) score at 91, 180, 270, and 360 days after randomisation. RESULTS: Mean age of residents was 85 years. 32% were men. GtACH training was delivered to 1051/1480 staff (71%). Primary outcome data were available for 630 participants in the GtACH group and 712 in the usual care group. The unadjusted incidence rate ratio for falls between 91 and 180 days was 0.57 (95% confidence interval 0.45 to 0.71, P<0.001) in favour of the GtACH programme (GtACH: six falls/1000 residents v usual care: 10 falls/1000). Barthel activities of daily living indices and PAM-RC scores were similar between groups at all time points. The incremental cost was £108 (95% confidence interval -£271.06 to 487.58), incremental QALYs gained for EQ-5D-5L-P was 0.024 (95% confidence interval 0.004 to 0.044) and for DEMQOL-P-U was 0.005 (-0.019 to 0.03). The incremental costs per EQ-5D-5L-P and DEMQOL-P-U based QALY were £4544 and £20 889, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The GtACH programme was associated with a reduction in fall rate and cost effectiveness, without a decrease in activity or increase in dependency. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN34353836.

The societal cost of unintentional childhood injuries in Aotearoa.

AIMS: To estimate the burden and inequity of unintentional childhood injury for children in Aotearoa. METHODS: We used administrative data from the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and the Ministry of Health to estimate the direct, indirect and intangible costs of unintentional injuries in children aged under 15 and the inequity of the impact of childhood injury on discretionary household income. We used an incidence approach and attributed all costs arising from injuries to the year in which those injuries were sustained. RESULTS: 257,000 children experienced unintentional injury in 2014, resulting in direct and indirect costs of almost $400 million. The burden of lost health and premature death was the equivalent of almost 200 full lives at perfect health. Pacific children had the highest incidence rates. Maori had the lowest rates of ACC claims but the highest rate of emergency department attendance. Children living with the highest levels of socioeconomic deprivation had the highest rate of hospital admission following injury. The proportional loss in discretionary income arising from an injury was higher for Maori and Pacific compared to non-Maori, non-Pacific households. CONCLUSION: The burden of unintentional childhood injury is greater than previously reported and has a substantial and iniquitous societal impact. There should be a focus on addressing inequities in incidence and access to care in order to reduce inequities in health and financial impact.

Falls - the socio-economic and medical aspects important for developing prevention and treatment strategies.

INTRODUCTION: Although falls occur extremely frequently, they are still one of the least investigated causes of death. According to the World Health Organization, around 37.3 million falls occur globally every year resulting in the deaths of over 660,000 adults and almost 30,000 children. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this review is to evaluate the most up-to-date and comprehensive knowledge on falls and their consequences, especially in populations at the highest risk of fatal falls. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF STATE OF KNOWLEDGE: Currently, there is a limited amount of literature which analyzes falls. Falls affect all age groups, but their location, cause, and severity vary among different populations. Individuals who are particularly at risk of falling at home include younger children and the elderly. Research indicates that falls are one of the main causes of work-related injuries and deaths, especially those occurring at significant heights. Falls in the home environment are the second most common cause of death in over 33% of accidents and the main cause of injury in 41.2% of accidents. During patient hospitalizations, falls generate additional burdens and costs on the healthcare system. CONCLUSIONS: This review elaborated on the nature of falls in different populations and analyzed the influence falls have on the healthcare system, in society, and on the economy. This knowledge is particularly important in an aging society, which will inevitably face increasing problems due to falls in the near future. As the emphasis on falls increases, leaders and lawmakers will be pushed to establish individualized prevention measures, as described in this review, for specific risk groups to effectively prevent falls and their consequences.

[Standardization of Hypnotic Agents for Prevention of Falls: A Pharmacoeconomic Study].

To reduce the number of falls caused by hypnotic agents, the standardization of insomnia treatment was carried out at Yamaguchi University Hospital from April 2019. There were concerns that medical costs would increase due to the selected medicines-suvorexant and eszopiclone-being more expensive than conventional benzodiazepines. In this study, the standardization of insomnia treatment was evaluated by pharmacoeconomics. The costs of the hypnotic agents was considered, as was the cost of examination/treatment following falls. Effectiveness was evaluated as the incidence of falls within 24 hours of taking hypnotic agents. This analysis took the public healthcare payer's perspective. Propensity score matching based on patient background, showed that, per hospitalization the medicine costs of the recommended group increased by 1,020 yen, however, the examination/treatment costs following falls decreased by 487 yen when compared with the non-recommended group. Overall, the recommended group incurred costs of 533 yen more per hospitalization for patients prescribed hypnotic agents compared to the non-recommended group, but the incidence of falls for the recommended group was significantly lower than that in the non-recommended group (1.9% vs. 6.3%; p<0.01). These results suggest that in order to prevent the incidence of falls by 1 case, it is necessary to increase costs by 12,086 yen which is the subthreshold cost for switching to the recommended medicine as standardization. The selection of recommended medicines may be a cost-effectiveness option compared with non-recommended medicines.

Clinical and economic impacts of explicit tools detecting prescribing errors: A systematic review.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Many explicit tools have been developed to reduce prescribing errors and ensure patients' safety. The impact of explicit tools is not well studied. The objective of this study was (a) to conduct a systematic review of systematic reviews listing explicit tools developed to detect prescribing errors and (b) to assess their impact on clinical and economic outcomes. METHODS: This project includes two related parts. First, a systematic review of systematic reviews listing explicit tools dedicated to geriatrics or internal medicine was performed to develop an exhaustive list of explicit tools. Then, using the list compiled in the first step, a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCT) assessing clinical or economic impacts of tools was performed to evaluate their usefulness. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The systematic review of systematic reviews identified 49 explicit tools. The systematic review of RCT, using one or more of the 49 explicit tools, identified 5 RCT using explicit tools as intervention (3 STOPP/START and 2 FORTA RCT). The 5 studies evaluated clinical impacts with 3 RCT identifying significant clinical impacts (falls, activities of daily living and/or adverse drug reactions) and 2 STOPP/START RCT identifying significant economic impacts. WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: The systematic review of RCT showed that explicit tools can have some effect in improving patients' safety. Further studies are warranted to better characterize their clinical and economic impact.

The Cost of a Fall Among Older Adults Requiring Emergency Services.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The cost of a fall among older adults requiring emergency services is unclear, especially beyond the acute care period. We evaluated medical expenditures (costs) to 1 year among community-dwelling older adults who fell and required ambulance transport, including acute versus post-acute periods, the primary drivers of cost, and comparison to baseline expenditures. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort analysis. SETTING: Forty-four emergency medical services agencies transporting to 51 emergency department in seven northwest counties from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2011, with follow-up through December 31, 2012. PARTICIPANTS: We included 2,494 community-dwelling adults, 65 years and older, transported by ambulance after a fall with continuous fee-for-service Medicare coverage. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was total Medicare expenditures to 1 year (2019 U.S. dollars), with separation by acute versus post-acute periods and by cost category. We included 48 variables in a standardized risk-adjustment model to generate adjusted cost estimates. RESULTS: The median age was 83 years, with 74% female, and 41.9% requiring admission during the index visit. The median total cost of a fall to 1 year was $26,143 (interquartile range (IQR) = $9,634-$68,086), including acute care median $1,957 (IQR = $1,298-$12,924) and post-acute median $20,560 (IQR = $5,673-$58,074). Baseline costs for the previous year were median $8,642 (IQR = $479-$10,948). Costs increased across all categories except outpatient, with the largest increase for inpatient costs (baseline median $0 vs postfall median $9,477). In multivariable analysis, the following were associated with higher costs: high baseline costs, older age, comorbidities, extremity fractures (lower extremity, pelvis, and humerus), noninjury diagnoses, and surgical interventions. Compared with baseline, costs increased for 74.6% of patients, with a median increase of $12,682 (IQR = -$185 to $51,189). CONCLUSION: Older adults who fall and require emergency services have increased healthcare expenditures compared with baseline, particularly during the post-acute period. Comorbidities, noninjury medical conditions, fracture type, and surgical interventions were independently associated with increased costs.

Technology Utilization in Fall Prevention.

ABSTRACT: Falls, defined as unplanned descents to the floor with or without injury to an individual, remain to be one of the most challenging health conditions. Fall rate is a key quality metric of acute care hospitals, rehabilitation settings, and long-term care facilities. Fall prevention policies with proper implementation have been the focus of surveys by regulatory bodies, including The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, for all healthcare settings. Since October 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has stopped reimbursing hospitals for the costs related to patient falls, shifting the accountability for fall prevention to the healthcare providers. Research shows that almost one-third of falls can be prevented and extensive fall prevention interventions exist. Recently, technology-based applications have been introduced in healthcare to obtain superior patient care outcomes and experience via efficiency, access, and reliability. Several areas in fall prevention deploy technology, including predictive and prescriptive analytics using big data, video monitoring and alarm technology, wearable sensors, exergame and virtual reality, robotics in home environment assessment, and personal coaching. This review discusses an overview of these technology-based applications in various settings, focusing on the outcomes of fall reductions, cost, and other benefits.

Cost-effectiveness of Screening for Osteoporosis in Older Men With a History of Falls.

Importance: Falls and osteoporosis share the potential clinical end point of fractures among older patients. To date, few fall prevention guidelines incorporate screening for osteoporosis to reduce fall-related fractures. Objective: To assess the cost-effectiveness of screening for osteoporosis using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) followed by osteoporosis treatment in older men with a history of falls. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this economic evaluation, a Markov model was developed to simulate the incidence of major osteoporotic fractures in a hypothetical cohort of community-dwelling men aged 65 years who had fallen at least once in the past year. Data sources included literature published from January 1, 1946, to July 31, 2020. The model adopted a societal perspective, a lifetime horizon, a 1-year cycle length, and a discount rate of 3% per year for both health benefits and costs. The analysis was designed and conducted from October 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020. Interventions: Screening with DXA followed by treatment for men diagnosed with osteoporosis compared with usual care. Main Outcomes and Measures: Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), measured by cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. Results: Among the hypothetical cohort of men aged 65 years, the screening strategy had an ICER of $33 169/QALY gained and was preferred over usual care at the willingness-to-pay threshold of $100 000/QALY gained. The number needed to screen to prevent 1 hip fracture was 1876; to prevent 1 major osteoporotic fracture, 746. The screening strategy would become more effective and less costly than usual care for men 77 years and older. The ICER for the screening strategy did not substantially change across a wide range of assumptions tested in all other deterministic sensitivity analyses. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50 000/QALY gained, screening was cost-effective in 56.0% of simulations; at $100 000/QALY gained, 90.8% of simulations; and at $200 000/QALY gained, 99.6% of simulations. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that for older men who have fallen at least once in the past year, screening with DXA followed by treatment for those diagnosed with osteoporosis is a cost-effective use of resources. Fall history could be a useful cue to trigger assessment for osteoporosis in men.

Cost-effectiveness of antithrombotic agents for atrial fibrillation in older adults at risk for falls: a mathematical modelling study.

BACKGROUND: Antithrombotic drugs decrease stroke risk in patients with atrial fibrillation, but they increase bleeding risk, particularly in older adults at high risk for falls. We aimed to determine the most cost-effective antithrombotic therapy in older adults with atrial fibrillation who are at high risk for falls. METHODS: We conducted a mathematical modelling study from July 2019 to March 2020 based on the Ontario, Canada, health care system. We derived the base-case age, sex and fall risk distribution from a published cohort of older adults at risk for falls, and the bleeding and stroke risk parameters from an atrial fibrillation trial population. Using a probabilistic microsimulation Markov decision model, we calculated quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), total cost and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) for each of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), warfarin, apixaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban and edoxaban. Cost data were adjusted for inflation to 2018 values. The analysis used the Ontario public payer perspective with a lifetime horizon. RESULTS: In our model, the most cost-effective antithrombotic therapy for atrial fibrillation in older patients at risk for falls was apixaban, with an ICER of $8517 per QALY gained (5.86 QALYs at $92 056) over ASA. It was a dominant strategy over warfarin and the other antithrombotic agents. There was moderate uncertainty in cost-effectiveness ranking, with apixaban as the preferred choice in 66% of model iterations (given willingness to pay of $50 000 per QALY gained); edoxaban, 30 mg, was preferred in 31% of iterations. Sensitivity analysis across ranges of age, bleeding risk and fall risk still favoured apixaban over the other medications. INTERPRETATION: From a public payer perspective, apixaban is the most cost-effective antithrombotic agent in older adults at high risk for falls. Health care funders should implement strategies to encourage use of the most cost-effective medication in this population.

Systematic review of unintentional injury prevention economic evaluations 2010-2019 and comparison to 1998-2009.

BACKGROUND: Health economic evaluation studies (e.g., cost-effectiveness analysis) can provide insight into which injury prevention interventions maximize available resources to improve health outcomes. A previous systematic review summarized 48 unintentional injury prevention economic evaluations published during 1998-2009, providing a valuable overview of that evidence for researchers and decisionmakers. The aim of this study was to summarize the content and quality of recent (2010-2019) economic evaluations of unintentional injury prevention interventions and compare to the previous publication period (1998-2009). METHODS: Peer-reviewed English-language journal articles describing public health unintentional injury prevention economic evaluations published January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2019 were identified using index terms in multiple databases. Injury causes, interventions, study methods, and results were summarized. Reporting on key methods elements (e.g., economic perspective, time horizon, discounting, currency year, etc.) was assessed. Reporting quality was compared between the recent and previous publication periods. RESULTS: Sixty-eight recent economic evaluation studies were assessed. Consistent with the systematic review on this topic for the previous publication period, falls and motor vehicle traffic injury prevention were the most common study subjects. Just half of studies from the recent publication period reported all key methods elements, although this represents an improvement compared to the previous publication period (25 %). CONCLUSION: Most economic evaluations of unintentional injury prevention interventions address just two injury causes. Better adherence to health economic evaluation reporting standards may enhance comparability across studies and increase the likelihood that this type of evidence is included in decision-making related to unintentional injury prevention.

The Relationship between Self-Rated Economic Status and Falls among the Elderly in Shandong Province, China.

(1) Background: Older people are more vulnerable and likely to have falls and the consequences of these falls place a heavy burden on individuals, families and society. Many factors directly or indirectly affect the prevalence of falls. The aims of this study were to understand the prevalence and risk factors of falls among the elderly in Shandong, China; the relationship between economic level and falls was also preliminary explored. (2) Methods: Using a multi-stage stratified sampling method, 7070 elderly people aged 60 and over were selected in Shandong Province, China. General characteristics and a self-rated economic status were collected through face to face interviews. Chi-square tests, rank sum tests and two logistic regression models were performed as the main statistical methods. (3) Results: 8.59% of participants reported that they had experienced at least one fall in the past half year. There was a significant difference in experienced falls regarding gender, residence, marital status, educational level, smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes, coronary disease, and self-reported hearing. The worse the self-rated economic status, the higher the risk of falling, (poor and worried about livelihood, OR = 3.60, 95%; CI = 1.76-7.35). (4) Conclusions: Women, hypertension, diabetes and self-reported hearing loss were identified as the risk factors of falls in the elderly. The difference of economic level affects the falls of the elderly in rural and urban areas. More fall prevention measures should be provided for the elderly in poverty.

Protocol for the SAFEST review: the Shock-Absorbing Flooring Effectiveness SysTematic review including older adults and staff in hospitals and care homes.

INTRODUCTION: Falls in hospitals and care homes are a major issue of international concern. Inpatient falls are the most commonly reported safety incident in the UK's National Health Service (NHS), costing the NHS £630 million a year. Injurious falls are particularly life-limiting and costly. There is a growing body of evidence on shock-absorbing flooring for fall-related injury prevention; however, no systematic review exists to inform practice. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will systematically identify, appraise and summarise studies investigating the clinical and cost-effectiveness, and experiences of shock-absorbing flooring in hospitals and care homes. Our search will build on an extensive search conducted by a scoping review (inception to May 2016). We will search electronic databases (AgeLine, CINAHL, MEDLINE, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, Scopus and Web of Science; May 2016-present), trial registries and grey literature. We will conduct backward and forward citation searches of included studies, and liaise with study researchers. We will evaluate the influence of floors on fall-related injuries, falls and staff work-related injuries through randomised and non-randomised studies, consider economic and qualitative evidence, and implementation factors. We will consider risk of bias, assess heterogeneity and explore potential effect modifiers via subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses. Where appropriate we will combine studies through meta-analysis. We will use the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations) approach to evaluate the quality of evidence and present the results using summary of findings tables, and adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses reporting guidelines. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We will follow the ethical principles of systematic review conduct, by attending to publication ethics, transparency and rigour. Our dissemination plan includes peer-reviewed publication, presentations, press release, stakeholder symposium, patient video and targeted knowledge-to-action reports. This review will inform decision-making around falls management in care settings and identify important directions for future research. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019118834.

Determination of the costs of falls in the older people according to the decision tree model.

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH: The primary aim of this study is to hypothetically examine the costs of falls experienced by the older people living in the community and fall prevention interventions implemented by nurses using the decision tree model. The secondary purpose of the study is to determine the factors affecting the cost of falls. THE MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was planned as a costing and cost-effectiveness study. Two thousand seventy-five patient files were examined by following the research criteria. In the present study, a hypothetical analytical decision tree model was used. Three different scenarios were set up in the study, and the decision tree analyses were performed according to these scenarios. Falls will decrease by 12 % in the pessimistic scenario, by 27 % in the optimal scenario, and by 39 % in the optimistic scenario. The SPSS 22.0 (2014) and TreeAge Pro Suit (2009) programs were used for data analysis. THE PRINCIPAL RESULTS: The average cost for a person admitted to a hospital due to falls was $396.51 ± $1429.35.It was determined that costs varied according to the type of the injury.The results of this present study demonstrated that the three scenarios tested were costly but also more effective. Hence, the applicability of these interventions should be considered by policy makers taking both the costs and effectiveness into account. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Multidisciplinary research should be carried out in order to increase the effectiveness of the fall prevention programs to be implemented in the future, and multifaceted fall prevention programs should be developed.

Tuning of Standing Postural Responses to Instability and Cost Function.

Whole-body movements are performed daily, and humans must constantly take into account the inherent instability of a standing posture. At times these movements may be performed in risky environments and when facing different costs of failure. The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that in upright stance participants continuously estimate both probability of failure and cost of failure such that their postural responses will be based on these estimates. We designed a snowboard riding simulation experiment where participants were asked to control the position of a moving snowboard within a snow track in a risky environment. Cost functions were provided by modifying the penalty of riding in the area adjacent to the snow track. Uncertainty was modified by changing the gain of postural responses while participants were standing on a rocker board. We demonstrated that participants continually evaluated the environmental cost function and compensated for additional risk with feedback-based postural changes, even when probability of failure was negligible. Results showed also that the participants' estimates of the probability of failure accounted for their own inherent instability. Moreover, participants showed a tendency to overweight large probabilities of failure with more biomechanically constrained standing postures that results in suboptimal estimates of risky environments. Overall, our results suggest that participants tune their standing postural responses by empirically estimating the cost of failure and the uncertainty level in order to minimize the risk of falling when cost is high.

Dosage for cost-effective exercise-based falls prevention programs for older people: A systematic review of economic evaluations.

BACKGROUND: Falls in older people is a global public health concern. Physical exercise is a useful and potentially cost-saving treatment option to prevent falls in older people. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to (1) summarize the research literature regarding the cost-effectiveness of exercise-based programs for falls prevention in older people and (2) discuss the implications of the review's findings for clinical practice and future research on the dosage of cost-effective exercise-based falls prevention programs for older people. METHODS: Multiple databases were searched from inception until February 2019. Studies were included if they (1) were randomized controlled trials with an economic evaluation of exercise-based falls prevention programs for people ≥ 60 years old and (2) assessed the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios, cost per quality-adjusted life year, incremental cost per fall and benefit-to-cost ratio of programs. Methodological quality was assessed with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale and quality of economic evaluation with the Quality of Health Economic Studies. RESULTS: We included 12 studies (3668 older people). Interventions for falls prevention were either exercise-only or multifactorial programs. Five studies of high economic quality and 2 of high methodological quality provided evidence supporting exercise-only programs as cost-effective for preventing falls in older people. Specifically, a tailored exercise program including strengthening of lower extremities, balance training, cardiovascular exercise, stretching and functional training of moderate intensity performed twice per week with each session lasting 60min for ≥ 6 months delivered in groups of 3 to 8 participants with home-based follow-up appears to be cost-effective in preventing falls in older people. CONCLUSION: There is evidence to support exercise-based interventions as cost-effective treatment for preventing falls. Further research is needed to fully establish the cost-effectiveness of such programs, especially in both developing and underdeveloped countries. REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42018102892.

The cost burden of falls in people with glaucoma in National Health Service Hospital Trusts in the UK.

Aims: Falls have devastating consequences in older people with a considerable cost burden. Glaucoma is a risk factor for falls, and patients with glaucoma who fall are at high risk of hospital admission. The aim was to quantify the cost burden of falls to NHS Trusts in people with glaucoma in the UK.Methods: Financial data were used to identify non-elective episodes and associated costs from 2012 to 2018, for all admissions where glaucoma was recorded as a secondary diagnosis and admissions for falls (all, with and without a glaucoma secondary diagnosis). A secondary diagnosis is only recorded by the admitting clinician if it is clinically relevant; therefore, a secondary diagnosis of glaucoma was used as a proxy for glaucoma as a contributory factor to falls.Limitations: Use of financial records means that data on other falls risk factors was unavailable and we cannot be certain that glaucoma was the only relevant factor in all falls. Although this methodology is imperfect, case capture was biased towards cases with clinically significant glaucoma, and financial data is robust. Potential coding errors mean that we may have excluded patients in whom glaucoma was a factor in their fall.Results: At Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells (MTW) NHS Trust, 11.7% (95% confidence intervals [CI] = 10.7-12.8) of admissions for falls were in patients with a secondary diagnosis of glaucoma. This extrapolates to an estimated annual 10,056 admissions at a cost of £28.6 million across the UK. This is an under-estimate of cost, as A&E attendance without admission and outpatient appointments are excluded.Conclusions: At MTW, glaucoma potentially plays a part in around one in eight falls resulting in hospital admission, at considerable personal and financial cost. It is suggested that further work should explore early diagnosis of glaucoma, treatment, and mitigation of falls risk.

Falling Again? Falls in Geriatric Adults-Risk Factors and Outcomes Associated With Recidivism.

BACKGROUND: The elderly population is at increased risk of fall-related readmissions (FRRs). This study is aimed to identify the factors predictive of repeat falls and to analyze the associated outcomes. METHODS: We studied the Nationwide Readmission Database for the year 2010 and identified the patients (≥65 years) who were admitted after falls, and from that subset, further analyzed patients with ≥1 FRRs. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze continuous and categorical variables. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of readmission in geriatric patients after controlling for covariates. RESULTS: A total of 358,581 initial fall-related admissions in geriatric adults were identified, and of these, 21,713 experienced ≥1 FRRs (6.06% risk of repeat fall-related admission). Females outnumbered males, and female gender was identified as an independent predictor of FRR (OR 1.10 95% CI 1.07-1.14 P = 0.000). The other independent predictors significantly associated with FRR were age (OR 1.007, 95% CI 1.005-1.009), depression (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.21-1.30), drug abuse (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.15-1.63), liver disease (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.15-1.43, P < 0.001), psychosis (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.09-1.23), valvular heart disease (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.12), chronic pulmonary disease (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.06-1.13), and number of chronic conditions (OR 1.022, 95% CI 1.016-1.29). Patients admitted emergently or urgently had higher odds of FRR (OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.36-1.52). Hospital demographic was a significant predictor of FRR, as hospitals with bed number >500 was associated with lower odds (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.92-0.98, P < 0.001). Geriatric patients admitted at nonteaching hospitals and hospitals in large metro areas (population > 1 million) had higher odds of FRR (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.03 - 1.16) and (OR 1.10, 95% C1 1.07-1.14), respectively. With respect to discharge disposition, patients in the FRR group were less likely to go home (5.9% versus 21.0%) or with home health care (12.6% versus 18.5%), but more likely to be discharged to skilled nursing or intermediate-care facilities (64.1% versus 54.9%) and short-term hospitals (2.8% versus 1.4%). The mortality rate was higher in the FRR group but was not statistically significant (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.99-1.14). CONCLUSIONS: Given the high burden of fall-related injuries and FRRs to patients and the health care system, it is essential to identify those who are at risk. This study provides a comprehensive list of high-risk predictors as well as the impact on patient outcomes, and hence a chance to intervene for patients with FRRs.

Cost-Effectiveness of Antihypertensive Therapy in Patients Older Than 80 Years: Cohort Study and Markov Model.

BACKGROUND: Blood pressure and antihypertensive treatment (AHT) generally increase with age, but there is uncertainty concerning the value of treatment at very advanced ages. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the cost-effectiveness of AHT in people aged 80 years and older. METHODS: A Markov model compared AHT with no blood pressure treatment for prevention of cardiovascular disease. Outcomes were new stroke, coronary heart disease, and diabetes, with falls included as a potential complication of AHT. Costs were evaluated from a health system perspective. Incidence, mortality, and costs of healthcare utilization were estimated from linked primary and secondary care electronic health records for 98 220 individuals aged 80 years and older. Clinical effectiveness estimates were from the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted. RESULTS: In the base case, AHT was associated with an additional 725 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and £4.3 million per 1000, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of £5977 per QALY. The ICER was most sensitive to the cost of falls and relative risk reduction in stroke incidence. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis gave 95% uncertainty intervals: £5057 to £8398 per QALY in men and £4955 to £8218 per QALY in women. AHT for secondary prevention in participants with coronary heart disease gave an ICER of £9903 per QALY. CONCLUSIONS: AHT is estimated to be cost-effective in individuals aged 80 years and older, even if health benefits are smaller or side effects costlier than in the base case. Benefits and harms for vulnerable subgroups require further evaluation.

Preventing Fall Injury.

Falls are the leading cause of injury, premature institutionalization, and long-term disability in elderly adults worldwide, with a fall-related fatality in the United States every 19 minutes.1 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,2 3 million people over 65 years of age receive emergency room treatment for fall injuries at an average cost of $30 000. The annual cost of fall injuries was more than $50 billion in 2015.1,2 Community-based interventions effective in preventing falls include exercise, medication, and nutritional management as well as improving safety of the local environment.3 Evidence supporting interventions designed to reduce hospital inpatient falls is less clear despite considerable research aimed at reducing this growing problem. Those injured due to falling during a hospital stay incur higher costs, including a 6-day longer hospital stay, than non-fallers.4 Programs have worked to prevent other "never events," such as wound infections or pressure ulcers, but mixed results have been reported for preventing falls or fall-related injuries in hospitals. This month's Evidence Corner reviews a randomized controlled trial (RCT)5 and a prospective observational study6 that offer important clues on how to prevent hospital inpatient falls.