Finding Fallers Using Telephone Versus Home Interviews and Laypersons Versus Health Professionals: Is the Information Valid?

Abstract

Objective and Design: This study determined the consistency of falls reporting between a telephone and in-person home interview using a cross-sectional design. Response consistency between the modes according to type of telephone interviewer, layperson, or health professional was also examined. Subjects: Three-hundred sixty-six community-dwelling individuals who were at high risk for falls because of a previous stroke or hip fracture participated: 107 required proxy assistance during interviewing. Results: The telephone and home interview provided similar estimates of the percentages of individuals not falling in the past month, 90% versus 92%. The overall sensitivity of the telephone interview to identifying fallers was 97% with a corresponding specificity of 98%. McNemar's X² statistic indicated a significant difference (X² = 5.44; p < .05) between the modes on the reporting of falls such that 38 falls were reported during the telephone interview versus 31 during the home interview. Layperson telephone interviewers were able to detect fallers as successfully as health professionals. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a telephone interview performed by a trained layperson may offer a cost-reduced means of identifying community-dwelling individuals at high risk of falls. Given the strong evidence that falls prevention programs are highly successful, this cost-effective strategy to detect individuals at high risk for falls is promising for injury prevention and health promotion.

KEYWORDS:

• Aged
• accidental falls
• risk assessment
• preventive health services
• telephone