The care in the prevention of falls in elderly people: Meta-summary of qualitative articles

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the qualitative evidence on the role of care providers in the prevention of falls of persons over 65 years of age in centres and in the community. DESIGN: Meta-summary of qualitative evidence following the aggregation method. DATA SOURCES: Extensive manual search of 16 databases (CINAHL, Pubmed/Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, PeDRO, Opengrey (Reports), Cuiden, Cuidatge, Enfispo, Medes, Lilacs, Teseo, Dissertation and Thesis Global and Ibecs), in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese; no time limit. SELECTION OF STUDIES: Selection and blind critical appraisal by pairs. A first relevance and relevance screening and a second critical appraisal screening were carried out. A total of 4170 articles were located; 41 qualitative articles were critically appraised and 31 were selected. DATA EXTRACTION: Data regarding author, year, study design, location, participants (number, age, sex and occupation), study methods and findings were extracted. RESULTS: The analysis revealed four major themes: precipitating factors, preventive models, feelings and decision-making process. It also highlights the difficult act of ethical balance, the role of the institution in prevention and the fragmentation of care, as keys to successful implementation. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show the complexity of fall prevention and the need to incorporate care providers' opinions in preventive models.