Pilot study to investigate the feasibility of the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) to identify older Malaysian people at risk of falls

OBJECTIVE The relationship between home hazards and falls in older Malaysian people is not yet fully understood. No tools to evaluate the Malaysian home environment currently exist. Therefore, this study aimed to pilot the Home Falls and Accidents Screening Tool (HOME FAST) to identify hazards in Malaysian homes, to evaluate the feasibility of using the HOME FAST in the Malaysian Elders Longitudinal Research (MELoR) study and to gather preliminary data about the experience of falls among a small sample of Malaysian older people. DESIGN A cross-sectional pilot study was conducted. SETTING An urban setting in Kuala Lumpur. PARTICIPANTS 26 older people aged 60 and over were recruited from the control group of a related research project in Malaysia, in addition to older people known to the researchers. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE The HOME FAST was applied with the baseline survey for the MELoR study via a face-to-face interview and observation of the home by research staff. RESULTS The majority of the participants were female, of Malay or Chinese ethnicity and living with others in a double-storeyed house. Falls were reported in the previous year by 19% and 80% of falls occurred at home. Gender and fear of falling had the strongest associations with home hazards. Most hazards were detected in the bathroom area. A small number of errors were detected in the HOME FAST ratings by researchers. CONCLUSIONS The HOME FAST is feasible as a research and clinical tool for the Malaysian context and is appropriate for use in the MELoR study. Home hazards were prevalent in the homes of older people and further research with the larger MELoR sample is needed to confirm the validity of using the HOME FAST in Malaysia. Training in the use of the HOME FAST is needed to ensure accurate use by researchers.