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33/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 33 out of 100. Clinical safety

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Between April 2020 and March 2021, the number of fall-related emergency admissions in England for adults over 65 years was 1933 per 100 000 people. Adult patients in hospital may be at risk of falling for many reasons including a history of falls, being medically unwell, dementia or delirium, the effects of their treatment or medication, poor mobility, visual and other sensory impairments along with their general well-being. Research has shown that falls can be reduced by 20%-30% through multifactorial assessments and interventions. The aim of these assessments and interventions is to identify and treat underlying reasons for falls such as muscle weakness, cardiovascular problems, dementia, delirium, incontinence and medication. However, national audits have found low levels of implementation of these assessments and interventions in UK hospitals. As part of a new patient safety improvement initiative, a collaborative was developed to reduce the incidence of in-patient falls rate per 1000 bed days within five older adults' mental health wards in a health board in Wales. The falls collaborative project has resulted in substantial improvements in care, including an increase of patients receiving lying and standing blood pressure assessment, medication review and delirium assessments. While reported falls rates stayed the same for the five wards, when each ward individually was factored in, we saw a reduction in two wards and estimated that the increase in falls for the remaining of three wards was related to a previous state of under-reporting, considering the numbers stayed levelled throughout the collaborative. The small reduction we saw was achieved without any extra support or allocated resources, and the ongoing staffing challenges all five wards experienced throughout the collaborative, all these improvements were received as a great success. The team was shortlisted for the National Health Service Wales Awards in the Safe Care category, something they took great pride in.

Key findings

Research has shown that falls can be reduced by 20%-30% through multifactorial assessments and interventions.

Why it matters

This quality improvement project in older adults' mental health wards in Wales increased assessments such as lying and standing blood pressure, medication review and delirium assessments, but reported falls rates stayed the same for the five wards. It is about fall prevention in hospital, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.

Study details

Effect sizereduced by 20%
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 33/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 32 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 33 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMJ Open Quality)
Journal's citation record	0 / 4	BMJ Open Quality: journal h-index 44 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	2 / 3	Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	1 / 7	Cited 2 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	0 / 5	0.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 4.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	0 / 4	Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Cwm Taf University Health Board: institution h-index 62 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	0 / 3	OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete)
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40169280)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Points	32 / 96	Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 32 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 33 out of 100.
Total	33 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Macchiavello, D., Gimson, P., Ackermann-Lloyd, K., Bassett, S. E., Bevan, C., Brooks, A., et al. (2025). Using a collaborative approach to reduce falls in older people’s adult mental health wards in a local health board in Wales. BMJ Open Quality. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2024-003219

Vancouver

Macchiavello D, Gimson P, Ackermann-Lloyd K, Bassett SE, Bevan C, Brooks A, et al. Using a collaborative approach to reduce falls in older people’s adult mental health wards in a local health board in Wales. BMJ Open Quality. 2025. doi:10.1136/bmjoq-2024-003219. PMID: 40169280.

BibTeX

@article{macchiavello2025-40169280,
  author  = {Macchiavello, Dolores and Gimson, Paul and Ackermann-Lloyd, Kerstin and Bassett, S. E. and Bevan, Christopher and Brooks, Anna and Davies, Melanie C. and Elias, Naomi and others},
  title   = {{Using a collaborative approach to reduce falls in older people’s adult mental health wards in a local health board in Wales}},
  journal = {BMJ Open Quality},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1136/bmjoq-2024-003219},
  pmid    = {40169280},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2024-003219}
}

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