TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Effectiveness of the wearable sensor based Ambient Intelligent Geriatric Management System (AmbIGeM) in preventing falls in older people in hospitals JO - Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences A1 - Visvanathan, Renuka A1 - Ranasinghe, Damith C. A1 - Lange, Kylie A1 - Wilson, Anne A1 - Dollard, Joanne A1 - Boyle, Eileen A1 - Jones, Katherine A1 - Chesser, Michael A1 - Ingram, Katharine A1 - Hoskins, Stephen A1 - Pham, Clarabelle A1 - Karnon, Jonathan A1 - Hill, Keith D. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: The AmbIGeM system augments best practice and involves a novel wearable sensor (accelerometer and gyroscope) worn by patients where the data captured by the sensor is interpreted by algorithms to trigger alerts on clinician handheld mobile devices when risk movements are detected.

METHODS: A 3-cluster stepped wedge pragmatic trial investigating the effect on the primary outcome of falls rate and secondary outcome of injurious fall and proportion of fallers. Three wards across two states were included. Patients aged >65 years were eligible. Patients requiring palliative care were excluded. The trial was registered with the Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials registry, number 12617000981325.

RESULTS: 4924 older patients were admitted to the study wards with 1076 excluded and 3240 (1995 control, 1245 intervention) enrolled. The median proportion of study duration with valid readings per patient was 49% (IQR 25-67%). There was no significant difference between intervention and control relating to the falls rate (ARR=1.41, 95% CI (0.85, 2.34; p=0.192)), proportion of fallers (OR=1.54, 95% CI (0.91, 2.61); p=0.105) and injurious falls rate (ARR=0.90, 95% CI (0.38, 2.14); p=0.807). In a post hoc analysis, falls and injurious falls rate were reduced in the Geriatric Evaluation and Management Unit (GEMU) wards when the intervention period was compared to the control period.

CONCLUSION: The AmbIGeM system did not reduce the rate of falls, rate of injurious falls or proportion of fallers. There remains a case for further exploration and refinement of this technology given the post hoc analysis findings with the GEMU wards.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1079-5006 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glab174 ID - ref1 ER -