Hasegawa Aya, Yamaga Takayoshi, Tamaki Satoshi, Kimata Chika, Morita Tomoe
Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medical Science, Nagoya Aoi University, Aichi, JPN.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Kamiiida Daiichi Hospital, Aichi, JPN.
Cureus. 2025 Jul 29;17(7):e89005. doi: 10.7759/cureus.89005. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Falls among older adults are a serious public health concern. In addition to exercise interventions, evaluating and modifying the home environment is essential for effective fall prevention. However, home assessments conducted via in-person visits are not frequently implemented due to constraints related to time and human resources. Recently, the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in remote medical care has gained increasing attention, raising the possibility of its application in home evaluations. Nonetheless, there have been no prior reports evaluating the effectiveness of ICT-based home assessments as an alternative to traditional in-person visits. This report presents the case of an older adult female with bilateral knee osteoarthritis and mild cognitive impairments who had experienced recurrent falls. Concerned about her safety, the individual's family consulted an occupational therapist to conduct a home assessment. The Japanese version of the Westmead Home Safety Assessment was used for both in-person and online assessments. The results of both assessments were found to be highly consistent. After implementing countermeasures based on the hazards identified during the online assessment, the individual did not experience any falls over the subsequent six months. The individual's family members reported high levels of satisfaction with the assessment process and its outcomes. This case suggests that online home assessments utilizing ICT may serve as a viable alternative or supplementary method to traditional home visits.
老年人跌倒问题是一个严重的公共卫生问题。除了运动干预外，评估和改善家庭环境对于有效预防跌倒至关重要。然而，由于时间和人力资源的限制，通过实地家访进行的家庭评估并不经常实施。最近，信息通信技术（ICT）在远程医疗中的应用越来越受到关注，这增加了其在家庭评估中应用的可能性。尽管如此，此前尚无报告评估基于ICT的家庭评估作为传统实地家访替代方法的有效性。本报告介绍了一名患有双侧膝关节骨关节炎和轻度认知障碍的老年女性反复跌倒的案例。出于对她安全的担忧，该患者家属咨询了一名职业治疗师进行家庭评估。实地家访和在线评估均使用了西梅德家庭安全评估的日语版本。发现两次评估结果高度一致。根据在线评估中识别出的危险因素采取对策后，该患者在随后的六个月内未再发生跌倒。患者家属对评估过程及其结果表示高度满意。该案例表明，利用ICT进行的在线家庭评估可能是传统家访的一种可行替代方法或补充方法。
