Effects of multimedia-based fall prevention education on the knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors of patients

Objectives Patient safety is regarded as a critical quality monitoring indicator for medical institutions. The effects of a multimedia-based patient education intervention on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding fall prevention were observed. Methods The study had a quasi-experimental research design and enrolled 140 participants. Seventy participants in the experimental group received multimedia-based patient education and a health education leaflet, while those in the control group received only the health education leaflet. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection at baseline, and a posttest was applied after the intervention. Results The participants were predominantly treated in the gastroenterology department (45.7%), followed by the pulmonology department (33.6%). A total of 86.4% of patients had not experienced a fall within 3 months. After the intervention, the average scores for all variables in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group. The results indicate that attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors regarding fall prevention among patients in the pulmonology department were higher than those among patients in the gastroenterology department; the differences were statistically significant. Conclusion The individualized health education content was of substantial significance for patients with different disease backgrounds and facilitated changes in their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding falls. Relevance to clinical practice Multimedia-based patient education influenced inpatients' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors for preventing falls.