Falls Risk Assessment Tool

Falls Risk Assessment Tools and Links

Victorian Health

The Peninsula Health Falls Prevention Service developed the Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) for a DHS funded project in 1999, and is part of the FRAT Pack. A study evaluating the reliability and validity of the FRAT has been presented at a number of conferences, and is being prepared for publication. The FRAT has been distributed to approximately 400 agencies world wide.

The FRAT has three sections: Part 1 – falls risk status, Part 2 – risk factor checklist and Part 3 – action plan. The complete tool (including the instructions for use) is a full falls risk assessment tool. However, Part 1 can be used as a falls risk screen. An abbreviated version of the instructions for use has been included on this website. For a full copy of the instructions for use please refer to the FRAT Pack or contact the Peninsula Health Falls Prevention Service.

The FRAT is a validated tool, therefore changes to Part 1 of the tool are not recommended.

Availability:

Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) (200kb, pdf)

Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) (160kb, MS Word)

Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) – Instructions for use (109kb, pdf)

Falls Risk Assessment Tool (FRAT) – Instructions for use (123kb, MS Word)

Multi-factorial falls risk assessment tools – QLD Health

Falls Risk for Older People – Community Setting (FROP-Com)

This tool rates falls risk on a number of factors including falls history, medications, medical conditions, sensory loss, foot problems, cognitive status, continence, nutritional status, and function. This risk assessment tool and guidelines are available for use with permission from the National Ageing Research Institute.

Physiological Profile Assessment (PPA)

This tool, which has been modified into a computer software program and it is available for a cost. A trained health professional will conduct a range of falls risk assessment tests. The results are entered into the program, which then produces a falls risk assessment report for each individual. The report includes falls risk, test performance results, results compared to age related norms and recommendations for improving any issues identified. A free demonstration of this software is available on the Falls Prevention and Balance Research Group, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute website.

For more information on falls risk awareness, screening and assessment tools, see the Queensland Stay On Your Feet® Community Good Practice Guidelines.

Other tools which may or may not be validated are available are also listed on the Victorian Department of Health Services website.

NATIONAL AGEING RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Falls risk assessment

Falls risk assessment is a recommended component of guideline based falls prevention programs (Victorian Quality Council Guidelines). Falls risk assessment has been used as part of randomised trials that successfully reduced falls in residential settings. Because of the generally high falls risk of residents, it is often considered of limited value to undertake a screening process, instead, most facilities go straight to a falls risk assessment for all residents. Falls risk assessment is of no value in isolation – it will only be effective if linked to a plan of care that addresses identified falls risk factors.

In the STAR project, most of the facilities had their own different risk assessment tools. To enable comparison of falls risk across the facilities, we utilised one falls risk assessment tool across the facilities (the FROP-Resi). The FROP-Resi was modified for residential care settings by the STAR project team, from validated versions of the tool in hospital (FRHOP) and community (FROP-Com) settings. There are other falls risk assessment tools available for the residential care setting – see Aged Care Victoria: Falls Prevention. Data from the 9 facilities highlighted the high level of falls risk of residents, and the broad range of falls risk factors that residents had. Overall falls risk profile information was provided back to the facilities to utilize in:

Identifying the most common risk factors present in the residents
Comparing information available from the FROP-Resi with information available from their own falls risk assessment tool in use.

From WA Health – FALLS RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL