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Informing the Construction of a Fall Prevention Clinical Practice Guideline for Podiatry Patients 65 Years of Age and Older

Nichols, Matthew David, Nichols
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1532365782547535

Abstract Details

2018, PHD, Kent State University, College of Public Health.
Unintentional falls amongst those 65 years of age and older remains a pervasive public health problem. Despite continued fall-related concerns, podiatric medicine, the medical specialty responsible for the foot and ankle, has not yet developed an integrated, clinical practice guideline for the prevention of falls among those 65 years of age and older. The following study aimed to inform clinical practice recommendations through the evaluation of current podiatrist fall knowledge and practices. A two-step mixed-methods survey design was employed, followed by a focus group of currently practicing podiatrists. Survey respondents were primarily male (74.3%) and 53.5 years of age, had 24.3 years of experience as a practicing podiatrist, spent 30.7 hours per week in direct patient care, and indicated that 51.6% of their practice was spent treating adults 65 years of age and older. While high fall knowledge was largely responsible for both referral (p = 0.000) and intervention (p = 0.000), less than half (46.8%) of respondents indicated a high knowledge of falls. Concurrently, respondents with high fall knowledge asked about falls (p = 0.000), identified fall risk factors (p = 0.000), documented fall risk factors (p = 0.000), provided a fall referral (p = 0.000), and provided a fall intervention (p = 0.000). As such, the addition of fall-related podiatry curriculum, continuing education, referral mechanisms, and the utilization of reliable risk assessments, respectively, should precede and serve to inform the construction of a fall prevention clinical practice guideline for podiatry patients 65 years of age and older.
Sonia Alemagno, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jonathan VanGeest, PhD (Committee Member)
Ken Zakariasen, PhD (Committee Member)
Vincent Hetherington, DPM (Committee Member)
Eric Jefferies, PhD (Other)
132 p.
Public Health
Podiatry; falls; 65 years of age and older; clinical practice guideline; fall knowledge

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nichols, Nichols, M. D. (2018). Informing the Construction of a Fall Prevention Clinical Practice Guideline for Podiatry Patients 65 Years of Age and Older [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1532365782547535

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nichols, Nichols, Matthew. Informing the Construction of a Fall Prevention Clinical Practice Guideline for Podiatry Patients 65 Years of Age and Older. 2018. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1532365782547535.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nichols, Nichols, Matthew. "Informing the Construction of a Fall Prevention Clinical Practice Guideline for Podiatry Patients 65 Years of Age and Older." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1532365782547535

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.