Fall incidence and fall prevention practices at acute hospitals in Singapore: A retrospective audit

Objective To investigate the incidence of falls and explore fall prevention practices at acute care hospitals in Singapore.Design A retrospective audit to collect baseline data on (1) incidence of falls (patient fall rates and fall injury rates) and (2) fall prevention practices, was conducted in five acute care hospitals in Singapore from December 2004 to March 2005.Study participants Medical record data (n = 6000) of patients admitted into the medical, surgical and geriatric units in the five hospitals.Outcome measures Fall incidence was obtained from the hospital\u27s fall databases and incident reports for the period of June 2003 to May 2004. In total, 6000 medical records from five hospitals were randomly selected, retrieved and reviewed to determine whether falls, fall assessments and interventions were being initiated and documented.Results The number of fallers for all hospitals was 825. Analysis showed that patient fall rates ranged from 0.68 to 1.44 per 1000 patient days, and the proportion of falls associated with injury ranged from 27.4% to 71.7%. The use of a fall risk assessment tool by nurses was recorded in 77% of all the nursing records.Conclusion This study has laid the foundation for further research for fall prevention in Singapore by describing current fall rates, fall-associated injury rates and the status of fall prevention practices in acute care settings. The results will be used to inform the development of a tailored multifaceted strategy to facilitate the implementation of Fall Prevention Clinical Practice Guidelines to reduce the burden of falls and fall injuries in hospitals in Singapore.<br /

Effects of Negative Political Advertising and Message Repetition on Candidate Evaluation

A great deal of televised political advertising is seen every electoral year. Expenditures on this type of political communication have reached the all-time high in the past elections. Clearly, political candidates believe that televised political advertising is an effective way to communicate with voters. This study investigates the effects of repetition of negative political ads on candidate evaluations. A pilot study shows situations in which repetition can both benefit and harm the evaluation of the sponsor of a negative political ad. The main study explores a factor that makes a negative political ad more effective, increasing positive reactions toward the sponsor and negative reactions toward the target of the ad. Implications of these results for society, attitudes, and learning are discussed