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Abstract Fallers in South Dakota Nursing Homes as Represented on the MDS+ Elizabeth A. Clayton 1996 This study explored the profile of South Dakota nursing home residents who experienced falls by using data from the MDS+ assessment data base. A number of variables were selected from the MDS+ based on the fall profile in the literature review. The variables were analyzed in relation to three groups of nursing home residents. These groups were those who had experienced falls in the past 30 days, those who had experienced falls in the past 31-180 days and those who had not fallen in this time frame. Sixteen variables were found to have significant differences among the three study groups. For the most part those who had fallen in the past 30 days had the most deteriorated conditions and required the greatest amount of assistance. The group who had fallen in the past 31-180 days had for the most part more deteriorated conditions and required a greater amount of assistance than did the non-faller group. There were a number of limitations discovered in utilizing the MDS+ data base. The lack of unique identifiers made a longitudinal study impossible. Therefore, a descriptive comparative study was done with retrospective secondary analysis of data. The inclusion of unique identifiers in the assessment data would make more precise research possible and was identified as a major limitation of the use of this data base.
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