title: What factors influence community-dwelling older people's intent to undertake multifactorial fall prevention programs?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate previous, current, or planned participation in, and perceptions toward, multifactorial fall prevention programs such as those delivered through a falls clinic in the community setting, and to identify factors influencing older people's intent to undertake these interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community-dwelling people aged >70 years completed a telephone survey. Participants were randomly selected from an electronic residential telephone listing, but purposeful sampling was used to include equal numbers with and without common chronic health conditions associated with fall-related hospitalization. The survey included scenarios for fall prevention interventions, including assessment/multifactorial interventions, such as those delivered through a falls clinic. Participants were asked about previous exposure to, or intent to participate in, the interventions. A path model analysis was used to identify factors associated with intent to participate in assessment/multifactorial interventions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty of 376 participants (8.0%) reported exposure to a multifactorial falls clinic-type intervention in the past 5 years, and 16.0% expressed intention to undertake this intervention. Of the 132 participants who reported one or more falls in the past 12 months, over one-third were undecided or disagreed that a falls clinic type of intervention would be of benefit to them. Four elements from the theoretical model positively influenced intention to participate in the intervention: personal perception of intervention effectiveness, self-perceived risk of falls, self-perceived risk of injury, and inability to walk up/down steps without a handrail (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multifactorial falls clinic-type interventions are not commonly accessed or considered as intended fall prevention approaches among community-dwelling older people, even among those with falls in the past 12 months. Factors identified as influencing intention to undertake these interventions may be useful in promoting or targeting these interventions.
authors.affiliation: School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia ; National Ageing Research Institute, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Keith D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Falls Prevention Research Unit, Monash Injury Research Institute, Monash University, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Day
authors.affiliation: Allied Health Research Unit, Southern Health, Cheltenham, VIC, Australia ; Physiotherapy Department, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, Monash University, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Terry P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Haines
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000061:Accidents, Home / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009042:Motivation; D010465:Perception; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016138:Walking
keywords: falls clinics; falls prevention; motivation; older adults