Informing the Design of a Computerised Tool for Falls Risk Assessment
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Informing the Design of a Computerised Decision Support Tool for Falls Risk Assessment: Exploring Modifiable Risk Factors and Data Availability in Acute Hospitals
IRAS ID
352649
Contact name
Rebecca Randell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 0 days
Research summary
BACKGROUND: Falls are the most reported safety incident in acute hospitals, causing physical (e.g., fractures) and non-physical harm (e.g., fear of falling). The National Institute for Health and Care excellence (NICE) guidelines on falls in older people recommends that, in order to prevent falls in hospital, patients should be assessed for issues that make them more likely to fall, like poor eyesight, and steps taken to reduce these risks. Currently, staff often use general measures for which there is limited evidence of benefit, e.g. chair alarms, instead of addressing patients’ individual risks. We want to design a digital tool to help with detailed falls risk assessment and help choose actions that are right for the individual person. Before doing this, we need to find some things out.
AIM: To determine the feasibility of designing and evaluating a comprehensive falls risk assessment and prevention computerised decision support tool through evaluating availability and quality of Electronic Health Record (EHR) data related to modifiable falls risk factors and falls prevention interventions.
METHOD: We will assess availability and quality of EHR data relevant to falls risk factors and prevention interventions. To do this, we will combine patient record review (manual and automated queries) and staff interviews.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/YH/0033
Date of REC Opinion
11 Mar 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion