@article{ref1,
title="Investigating the fall-injury reducing effect of impact absorbing flooring among female nursing home residents: initial results",
journal="Injury prevention",
year="2015",
author="Gustavsson, Johanna and Bonander, Carl M. and Andersson, Ragnar and Nilson, Finn",
volume="21",
number="5",
pages="320-324",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Fall-related injuries affect the lives of elderly to a substantial degree. This quasi-experimental study investigates the fall-injury reducing effect of impact absorbing flooring among female nursing home residents. <br><br>METHODS: The intervention site is a nursing home in Sweden where impact absorbing flooring was installed in parts of one of six wards (six out of 10 apartments (excluding bathrooms), the communal dining-room and parts of the corridor). The impact absorbing flooring is a 12 mm thick closed cell flexible polyurethane/polyurea composite tile (500×500 mm) with an exterior surface of polyurethane/polyurea. A generalised linear model (log-binomial) was used to calculate the RR of injury from falls on impact absorbing flooring compared to falls on regular flooring, adjusted for age, body mass index, visual and cognitive impairments. <br><br>RESULTS: During the study period (1 October 2011 to 31 March 2014), 254 falls occurred on regular flooring and 77 falls on impact absorbing flooring. The injury/fall rate was 30.3% for falls on regular flooring and 16.9% for falls on impact absorbing flooring. Adjusted for covariates, the impact absorbing flooring significantly reduced the RR of injury in the event of a fall by 59% (RR 0.41 (95% Cl 0.20 to 0.80)). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This is, to our knowledge, the first study evaluating the injury-reducing effect of impact absorbing flooring in a nursing home showing statistically significant effect. The results from this study are promising, indicating the considerable potential of impact absorbing flooring as a fall-related injury intervention among frail elderly.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1353-8047",
doi="10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041468",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2014-041468"
}