Falls documented after personal emergency alarm call-outs in Iceland: 12-month frequency, causes, circumstances and consequences
Abstract
Introduction: Responder-completed reports after personal emergency alarm call-outs can provide actionable information for fall prevention. This study aimed to assess 12-month fall frequency and describe causes, circumstances, and consequences among alarm users in Iceland, comparing users with and without documented falls.
Methods: A retrospective study of users with continuous alarm service for 12 months and reimbursement from Icelandic Health Insurance (N=765). Alarm-service and insurance data were linked to identify responder-documented falls (falls/year; ≥1; ≥2) and user characteristics (age group, sex, ICD-10 diagnoses). Group differences were assessed using appropriate non-parametric tests. Incident reports for users with documented falls (n=129) were coded using quantitative content analysis to classify causes, circumstances, and consequences. Security staff members were interviewed about their call-out experiences.
Results: Users were aged 23–100 years (mean 81.7±10.0), 73.7% were women, 96.9% lived in urban areas, and ICD-10 counts ranged 0–15 (mean 3.5±2.4). Overall, 457 falls were documented among 16.9% (129/765), and 54.3% (70/129) experienced recurrent falls (≥2 falls/year). Falls/year were higher in users aged <65 years than in those aged 75–84 (p=0.017) and ≥85 years (p=0.046), with no sex difference. Users with documented falls had a higher number of ICD-10 diagnoses than others (p=0.042). In incident reports, leading causal factors were medication use (41.2%) and environmental factors (23.5%). Falls occurred most often at night (35.1%) and in bedrooms (44.6%). Documented consequences included soft-tissue injury (42.6%) and musculoskeletal pain (32.4%); ambulance transport was documented in 6.6%. No significant differences in causal factors, circumstances, or consequences were found by sex or age group. Security staff offered reasoned ideas for improvements in their service.
Conclusion: Linked alarm-service and insurance data provide insight into responder-documented falls after call-outs in Iceland and can inform targeted prevention and service development. Strengthened routine documentation may improve care quality and research on falls at home.
Comments
Interesting data
Really interesting work. Were you surprised that younger users (<65) had more falls than the older age groups?
Reply - Interesting data
Thank you, and yes, this was initially surprising. However, the data include only falls where the alarm was activated, not all falls. Users under 65 were also a selected group with health or functional needs, so they are not representative of the general population. Their higher fall frequency may reflect more complex health problems or functional limitations. Differences in activity patterns or alarm-use behaviour may also play a role, but we cannot determine this from these data.