Predictive validity of the STRATIFY for fall Screening assessment in acute hospital setting: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Purpose: This study is to determine the predictive validity of the St. Thomas Risk Assessment Tool in Falling Elderly Inpatients (STRATIFY) for inpatients' fall risk. Methods: A literature search was performed to identify all studies published between 1946 and 2014 from periodicals indexed in Ovid Medline, Embase, CINAHL, KoreaMed, NDSL and other databases, using the following key words; 'fall', 'fall risk assessment', 'fall screening', 'mobility scale', and 'risk assessment tool'. The QUADAS-II was applied to assess the internal validity of the diagnostic studies. Fourteen studies were analyzed using meta-analysis with MetaDisc 1.4. Results: The predictive validity of STRATIFY was as follows; pooled sensitivity.75 (95% CI: 0.72~0.78), pooled specificity.69 (95% CI: 0.69~0.70) respectively. In addition, the pooled sensitivity in the study that targets only the over 65 years of age was.89 (95% CI: 0.85~0.93). Conclusion: The STRATIFY's predictive validity for fall risk is at a moderate level. Although there is a limit to interpret the results for heterogeneity between the literature, STRATIFY is an appropriate tool to apply to hospitalized patients of the elderly at a potential risk of accidental fall in a hospital.