Hip protectors improve falls self-efficacy

Objectives: to investigate the effect of use of external hip protectors on subjects' fear of falling and falls self-efficacy (belief in their own abil ity to avoid falling). Design: randomized controlled trial. Setting: aged-care health services in Sydney, Australia. Participants: 131 women aged 75 years or older, who had two or more falls o r one fall requiring hospital admission in the previous year and who live a t home. Sixty-one subjects were in the intervention group and 70 in the con trol group. Intervention: use of external hip protectors and encouragement to use the p rotectors by an adherence nurse. Measurements: at the time of enrolment into a wider study examining the eff ect of hip protectors on hip fractures, participants recruited at home comp leted an assessment of fear of falling and falls efficacy as measured by th e Falls Efficacy Scale and the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale. At 4-month fo llow-up, these scales were readministered by an observer who was not aware of the allocation of the participant to intervention or control groups. Results: fear of falling and falls self-efficacy, as measured by the Falls Efficacy and Modified Falls Efficacy Scales, were similar at baseline in bo th groups. Fear of falling was present at follow-up in 43% of subjects usin g hip protectors and 57% of the control group (chi(2) = 2.58, P = 0.11). Hi p protector users had greater improvement in falls self-efficacy at follow- up as measured by the Falls Efficacy Scale (t = 2.44, P = 0.016) and the Mo dified Falls Efficacy Scale (t = 2.08, P = 0.039). Conclusion: hip protectors improve falls self-efficacy. As users of hip pro tectors feel more confident that they can complete tasks safely, they may b ecome more physically active and require less assistance with activities of daily living.