Effectiveness of educational technology for preventing falls in a hospital environment

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention mediated by printed technology on knowledge about fall prevention in hospitalized patients. Method: This is a quasi-experimental study, of before and after type, applied an educational intervention mediated by a booklet. The study included 86 patients hospitalized in a medical-surgical clinic. A knowledge test on fall prevention was used, containing 12 questions, which was previously validated by professionals with expertise in patient safety. McNemar test was applied to assess, in a paired fashion, test responses before and after the educational intervention. Results: It was observed that, before the intervention, all questions of the instrument had less success. There was an association between change in knowledge with: perception of causes of falls during hospitalization (p=0.008); events considered as fall (p=0.000); use of means to support mobility (p=0.000); difficulty in seeing and hearing as a risk factor (p=0.000); the use of medications (p=0.000); importance of informing the professional about the history of falls (p=0.007); general prevention practices (p=0.000); care related to the environment (p=0.000) and the practice of exercises during hospitalization (p=0.000). Conclusion: Educational intervention using the booklet was effective in providing guidance on the risk of falls in hospitalized adult patients.