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Evaluation of the Falls Telephone: An Automated System for Enduring Assessment of Falls
Author(s) -
van der Marck Marjolein A.,
Overeem Sebastiaan,
Klok Philomène C.M.,
Bloem Bastiaan R.,
Munneke Marten
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2010.03263.x
Subject(s) - medicine , telephone interview , fall prevention , injury prevention , poison control , cohort , population , occupational safety and health , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , telephone call , falls in older adults , medical emergency , cohort study , gerontology , physical therapy , telecommunications , social science , environmental health , pathology , sociology , computer science
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the reliability and user experiences of an automated telephone system to monitor falls during a prolonged period of time. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Four neurological outpatient clinics in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred nineteen community‐dwelling people with Parkinson's disease without dementia, because falls are common in this population. MEASUREMENTS: Clinical and demographic data were obtained. The Falls Telephone is a computerized telephone system through which participants can enter the number of falls during a particular period. During a follow‐up of 1 to 40 weekly calls, 2,465 calls were made. In total, 173 no‐fall entries and 115 fall entries were verified using personal telephone interviews. User experiences were evaluated in 90 of the 119 participants using structured telephone interviews. RESULTS: All no‐fall entries and 78% of fall entries were confirmed to be correct. Sensitivity to detect falls was 100%, and specificity was 87%. Users regarded the Falls Telephone as a convenient tool to monitor falls. CONCLUSION: The Falls Telephone is a convenient and reliable instrument to monitor falls. The automated system has high specificity, obviating the need for time‐consuming personal follow‐up calls in the majority of nonfallers. As such, the Falls Telephone lends itself well to data collection in large trials with prolonged follow‐up in participants with Parkinson's disease.