Exploration and Comparison of Novel Technology-supported Methods for Early Fall Risk Detection and Fall Prevention Among Inpatients With Delirium

Delirium is a neuropsychiatric disorder with a sudden and reversible decline in attention and cognition due to a medical condition.8 Delirium is associated with emotional distress for patients, their relatives and medical staff.3-5 During delirium, patients are at risk of severe harm due to unattended bed-exits and subsequent falls.6, 7 As worldwide strategy, sitters are used for the prevention of harm in patients with delirium. However, evidence of the effectiveness of sitters is scant.9 A newly designed specialised acute care unit for older patients with delirium, the FELIX PLATTER delirium unit (DelirUnit), strives to overcome the aforementioned shortcomings. On the DelirUnit there are no physical barriers such as bed rails to prevent patients from bed-exits. Floor beds minimize injuries when patients leave their beds unattended. Specialised nurses and nursing aides care for this vulnerable patient group. Sitters are banned. As an alternative to sitters, nurses are informed about patients' intended bed-exit by electronic alarming contact mats at the bedside or in front of beds (CareMat®) or by a novel contactless radar-based bed-exit monitoring system (Qumea®). Up until now, evidence for the effectiveness of technical devices for fall risk prevention is low. This research intends to explore how effective contact mats (CareMat®) or contactless bed-exit alarming devices (Qumea®) are in fall risk detection and fall prevention.