title: Definitions and methods of measuring and reporting on injurious falls in randomised controlled fall prevention trials: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The standardisation of the assessment methodology and case definition represents a major precondition for the comparison of study results and the conduction of meta-analyses. International guidelines provide recommendations for the standardisation of falls methodology; however, injurious falls have not been targeted. The aim of the present article was to review systematically the range of case definitions and methods used to measure and report on injurious falls in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on fall prevention.
  
  
  METHODS
  An electronic literature search of selected comprehensive databases was performed to identify injurious falls definitions in published trials. Inclusion criteria were: RCTs on falls prevention published in English, study population ≥ 65 years, definition of injurious falls as a study endpoint by using the terms "injuries" and "falls".
  
  
  RESULTS
  The search yielded 2089 articles, 2048 were excluded according to defined inclusion criteria. Forty-one articles were included. The systematic analysis of the methodology applied in RCTs disclosed substantial variations in the definition and methods used to measure and document injurious falls. The limited standardisation hampered comparability of study results. Our results also highlight that studies which used a similar, standardised definition of injurious falls showed comparable outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No standard for defining, measuring, and documenting injurious falls could be identified among published RCTs. A standardised injurious falls definition enhances the comparability of study results as demonstrated by a subgroup of RCTs used a similar definition. Recommendations for standardising the methodology are given in the present review.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geriatric Research, AGAPLESION Bethanien-Hospital/Geriatric Center at the University of Heidelberg, Rohrbacherstr.149, Heidelberg 69126, Germany. mschwenk@bethanien-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwenk
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lauenroth
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.forename: Raquel Rodriguez
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oster
authors.forename: Gretl
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hauer
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection / Q000592:standards*; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards*; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018401:Sample Size; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014947:Wounds and Injuries