Fall Prevention Strategies And Fall-related Outcome Measures Used For Inpatients In Mental Health Settings: A Scoping Review

Patients in mental health settings are at risk of falling and sustaining injury due to the unique risk factors related to their mental illness and its accompanied treatment.

To examine the literature on the fall prevention strategies used, and fall-related outcome measures reported for inpatients in mental health settings.

A literature search was conducted using Medline, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus and sources from the Grey Literatures. Peer-reviewed research studies that examined fall prevention strategies for inpatients in mental health settings were included. The fall prevention strategies and fall-related outcome measures were extracted and grouped using a descriptive inductive approach.

Eighteen included studies reported six main fall prevention strategies: (1) care coordination, (2) education, (3) risk assessment, (4) technology and equipment, (5) medication review and (6) exercise. Outcome measures reported were classified into frequency and rate of falls, frequency and rate of fall injuries and fall risk scores. As most of the included studies were quality improvement reports that provided insufficient information on the interventions and participant characteristics, the ability of practitioners to replicate the interventions was limited.

The multiple strategies employed for fall prevention in the mental health setting reflected the complexity and interaction between multiple risk factors among mental health patients. Although individualised fall risk assessments were commonly used to guide preventative strategies, there remains a need for consistent use of validated risk assessment tools appropriate for mental health inpatients.