Background: Elderly, occupational retirees.⁽¹⁾ In KSA, 51% of the elderly report a history of falls at leastonce in the past 12 months, and half of them have a history of recurrent falls, with larger ratesin certainchronic disease groups.⁽⁵⁾ With serious injuries there occur complications and high economic costs. The objective of the study is to evaluate the primary health care physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the screening and prevention of elderly falls.

Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at the ALWAZART Center at PRINCE SULTAN MEDICAL MILITARY CITY in RIYADH City, KSA. A total of 86 questionnaires out of 96 distributed having 30 questions about physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices were completed and returned for a response rate of 90%. Data were analyzed using SPSS. The p-value for significance was<0.05.

Results: The knowledge of physicians was divided into the categories of good, 27.9%; intermediate, 39.5%; low, 31.4%; and very low, 1.2%.Of the physicians, 35.5% do not follow any guidelines regarding elderly fall screening and prevention, 15% always ask for the previous history of falls, 19.8% prescribe Vitamin D for fall prevention, 26.7% always advise exercise, and 53.5% have never been trained in the screening and prevention of falls among the elderly.

Conclusion: From the results of the study, we found different levels of knowledge among the physicians regarding the screening and prevention of falls among the elderly, with the greatest proportion at the intermediate level (=34: 39.5%). Further studies and professional educational programs are required and local recommendations and an approved screening scale are needed.

Keyword: prevention, physicians, screening, elderly, knowledge, falls.

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Saad Shebnan Alshahrani

Department of Family Medicine, Prince Sultan Medical Militıary City, Alwazarat Health Care Center, Rıyadh, KSA

Phone: 966567999456, Email: saadshebnan@gmaıl.com