Citation

Hnizdo S, Archuleta RA, Taylor B, Kim SC. Geriatr. Nurs. 2013; 34(5): 423-427.

Affiliation

Scripps Home Healthcare, 9619 Chesapeake Dr., Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92123, USA. Electronic address: shnizdo6623@pointloma.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.gerinurse.2013.05.011

PMID

23816376

Abstract

This prospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the validity and reliability of the modified Johns Hopkins Fall Risk Assessment Tool (mJH-FRAT) among elderly patients receiving home health care visits. Out of 107 patients, 33 (30.8%) had one or more falls and seven (6.5%) experienced falls with injury. Receiver Operating Characteristics of the tool in predicting falls showed an Area Under Curve (AUC) of 0.66 (p = 0.011) with sensitivity and specificity of 72.5% and 52.2% at the cutoff score of 14. For predicting falls with injury, the AUC was 0.82 (p = 0.016) with sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 65.9% at the cutoff score of 17. Inter-rater reliability of the tool was 85.7% agreement with Cohen's kappa of 0.714 (p < 0.001). The mJH-FRAT is a simple and easy-to-use multi-factor fall risk assessment tool with promising sensitivity, specificity and inter-rater reliability for prospectively identifying patients at risk of falls with injury among community-dwelling elderly populations.

Language: en