Impact of educational intervention in hospitalized patients’ fall risk perception and associated factors

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the impact of educational intervention on hospitalized patients’ perception about fall risk and their associated factors. Methods: This is quasi-experimental research with 157 patients hospitalized in a tertiary-level public institution in northern Ceará, Brazil. Data were collected before and after educational intervention mediated by a booklet on fall prevention. “Risk for falls” Nursing Diagnosis was identified, and the Falls Risk Awareness Questionnaire (FRAQ-Brazil) scale was applied. Data analysis occurred from McNemar’s and Wilcoxon tests. Results: In pre-test, the groups were different regarding fall risk perception (p<0.000), in which the group with the least risk had a median of correct answers of 12 (interquartile range=9), while the group higher risk for falls had a median equal to 14 (interquartile range=8). However, in post-test, the groups become homogeneous regarding fall risk perception (p=0.676) with an increase in the median number of correct answers in both. Conclusion: The results found in this study indicate that the educational intervention performance mediated by the booklet is effective to promote improvement in hospitalized patients’ fall risk perception.