Table 3.
Adherence to the Prevention of Falls Network Europe (ProFaNE) recommendations
| Recommendation 1: Domains and considerations (n = 34) | Yes – n (%) |
| 1.1 Inclusion of domains | |
| Domains reported on: | |
| Falls | 32 (94) |
| Fall injury | 16 (47) |
| Psychological consequences | 7 (21) |
| Health-related quality of life | 8 (24) |
| Physical activity | 8 (24) |
| Recommendation 2; Falls (n = 32) | Yes – n (%) |
| 2.1 Recommended definition | |
| Defined a fall as ‘an unexpected event in which the participants come to rest on the ground, floor or lower level’ | 24 (75) |
| 2.2 Lay perspective | |
| Considered lay perspective during ascertainment of information | 5 (16) |
| Asked participants: ‘In the past month, have you had any fall including a slip or trip in which you lost your balance and landed on the floor or ground or lower level?’ | 0 (0) |
| 2.3 Methods and systems for recording falls information | |
| Used daily prospective recording | 26 (81) |
| Used a notification system with a minimum of monthly reporting | 19 (59) |
| Used a telephone or face-to-face interview to rectify missing data and ascertain further details of falls | 19 (59) |
| 2.4 Summarising of fall data | |
| Reported number of falls | 25 (78) |
| Reported number of fallers | 26 (81) |
| Reported number of non-fallers | 26 (81) |
| Reported number of frequent fallers | 16 (50) |
| Reported fall rate per person year | 16 (50) |
| Reported time to first fall | 8 (25) |
| 2.5 Covariate adjustment and further data summaries | |
| Did not adjust for physical activity in primary analysis | 32 (100) |
| Reported absolute risk difference between groups | 1 (3) |
| Recommendation 3: Injuries (n = 16) | Yes – n (%) |
| 3.1 Recommended measure | |
| Reported number of radiologically confirmed peripheral fracture events per person year | 0 (0) |
| 3.2 Classification of injuries | |
| Used the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, classification system to classify injuries | 0 (0) |
| 3.3 Methods and systems for recording injury information | |
| Used daily prospective recording | 11 (69) |
| Used a notification system with a minimum of monthly reporting | 10 (63) |
| Used a telephone or face-to-face intervention to rectify missing data and ascertain further details of injuries | 11 (69) |
| 3.4 Summarising of injury data | |
| Reported peripheral fracture rate per person year of follow-up | 0 (0) |
| Reported number of peripheral fractures | 0 (0) |
| Reported number of people sustaining peripheral fractures | 0 (0) |
| Reported number of people sustaining multiple peripheral fractures | 0 (0) |
| 3.5 Covariate adjustment and further data summaries | |
| Did not adjust for physical activity in primary analysis | 16 (100) |
| Reported absolute risk difference between groups | 0 (0) |
| Recommendation 4: Psychological consequences of falling (n = 7) | Yes – n (%) |
| 4.1 Recommended measure | |
| Used the recommended modified Falls Efficacy Scale (mFES) | 1 (14) |
| 4.2 Scoring of measure | |
| Scored mFES as per published guidance | 1 (14) |
| Recommendation 5: Health-related quality of life (n = 8) | Yes – n (%) |
| 5.1 Recommended measure | |
| Used a recommended measure of health-related quality of life | 4 (50) |
| Measured health-related quality of life using: | |
| Short Form 12 (SF-12) | 1 (13) |
| European Quality of Life Instrument (EQ-5D) | 3 (38) |
| Recommendation 6: Physical activity (n = 8) | Yes – n (%) |
| 6.1 Outcome measure | |
| Used any measure of physical activity | 8 (100) |
| Recommendation 7; Time points for follow-up | Yes – n (%) |
| 7.1 Length of follow-up assessment | |
| Reported at follow-up of ≥12 months in domain of: | |
| Falls | 24 (75) |
| Injuries | 15 (94) |
| Psychological consequences of falling | 3 (43) |
| Health-related quality of life | 3 (38) |
| Physical activity | 6 (75) |
The recommendations were most frequently cited in the methods section of articles (n = 24), but were also cited in the introduction or background (n = 4) and discussion (n = 9)