Falls in the home could be reduced by a quarter according to the results of a new HRC-funded study just published online in top international medical journal The Lancet.
A community trial conducted by the University of Otago, Wellington’s He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme in the Taranaki region has shown that low-cost home repair and modifications effectively reduce home hazards. The trial is known as the 'Home Injury Prevention Intervention (HIPI) study'.
Lead author Associate Professor Michael Keall says that with more than a million medically-treated injuries happening annually in and around homes in New Zealand – most of them falls – the results of this study are important for efforts to reduce injuries here and internationally.
Between 2009 and 2013, He Kainga Oranga employed a local builder to carry out minor housing repairs, typically costing $300 to $600. Work was initially carried out on 436 houses in a randomly selected intervention group. After the trial was over, 406 control houses received similar repairs so all study participants benefited from the intervention, Keall says.
Modifications in the trial included handrails for outside steps and internal stairs; minor repairs and high-visibility slip-resistant edging for outside steps; grab rails for bathrooms and toilets; and slip-resistant surfacing for outside surfaces such as decks.
The research team looked at whether the intervention reduced ACC claims for injuries from home falls. Results showed an estimated 26 per cent reduction in the rate of injuries caused by falls at home per year in those houses where modifications had been made.
For injuries judged to be most relevant to the modifications, a 39 per cent annual reduction in injuries was found.
Previously there has been sparse evidence showing the safety benefits of home modifications, Keall says.
“In view of the large injury burden posed by falls at home, the results of the study have important implications for the design of effective prevention programmes focused on the home environment,” he says.
Co-author Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman points out that New Zealand and Sweden are the only countries to have a no-fault accident compensation scheme that creates incentives to prevent injuries, rather than waiting until people injure themselves.
“The ACC claims system also enables us to be sure that we have an accurate record of the injuries that occur, whether they’re in the home or occur in another setting. So we can be very sure that the relatively modest repairs and preventive measures we’ve made to the participants’ homes are very effective in stopping people falling and hurting themselves in their homes.”
News article courtesy of the University of Otago, Wellington