A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability: Highlighting an invisible population

Hemsley, Bronwyn; Steel, Joanne; Worrall, Linda; Hill, Sophie; Bryant, Lucy; Johnston, Leanne M; Georgiou, Andrew; Balandin, Susan

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2018.11.004

Cited by 26 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…Given that hospital admission stroke impairment scales are typically limited in terms of measuring communication functions, and do not identify the functional implications of stroke in terms of a patients ability to communicate with hospital staff, the inclusion of speech pathologists in falls research teams is expected to yield further insights into falls for patients with stroke (Hemsley et al . 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hemsley et al . (2019) conducted a comprehensive systematic review exploring the relationship between falls and communication disorders in hospital falls, including any study that included one or more participants with conditions associated with communication disability. Despite there being an extensive body of literature on falls of patients with stroke ( n = 61 included studies), communication disability was included as a potential risk factor in 38 studies and received relatively little attention in reporting of results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Attention to the falls risk of people with communication disability is of increasing concern in the literature (Hemsley et al . 2019), for several reasons. Those with communication disability following stroke are at a high risk of having activity limitations and participation restrictions in their communication with health professionals (Simmons‐Mackie and Kagan 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considering the urgent need to reduce the risk of patient safety incidents in hospital for people with communication disability, particularly falls (Hemsley et al . 2019), the aim of this review was to build on previous work and determine the association between communication disability secondary to stroke and falls in people with stroke in hospital. This review focused on papers that have published data directly comparing the risk of falls in patients with and without communication disability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Falls in hospital patients with acquired communication disability secondary to stroke: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Sullivan

Harding

Skinner

et al. 2020

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

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Background Falls are a common safety incident in people with stroke. Studies report that between 14% and 65% of people with stroke fall at least once during their hospital admission. Risk factors for falls in people with stroke have been reported to include neglect, balance and dependence for activities of daily living. Communication disability has been identified as a risk factor for patient safety incidents in hospital that has not been closely examined as a potential risk factor for falls in people with stroke. Aim To determine the association between communication disability secondary to stroke and falls in people with stroke in hospital. Methods & Procedures Systematic searches of five electronic databases were conducted in June 2019 using the key concepts of ‘falls’ and ‘stroke’ (PROSPERO CRD 42019137199). Included studies provided comparative data of falls in patients with stroke with and without communication disability. The methodological quality of the studies was examined using the Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs (QATSDD). Both a narrative synthesis and a meta‐analysis were completed. Main Contribution A total of 15 studies met the criteria for inclusion and 11 were included in a meta‐analysis. Three studies found people with communication disability had an increased rate of falls in hospital. However, a meta‐analysis showed no significant association between a non‐specific classification of communication disability and an increased risk of falls. There was some indication from individual studies that higher risk of falls may be associated with severe communication disability, but there were insufficient data reported on the severity of the communication disability to draw robust conclusions. Conclusion & Implications The results of this systematic review suggest that a generic classification of communication disability following stroke is not a risk factor for falls. However, further research that is inclusive of this population and considers severity of communication disability more specifically is required.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Falls in hospital patients with acquired communication disability secondary to stroke: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Sullivan

Harding

Skinner

et al. 2020

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Moreover, the interface between the clinical processes and usage of medical devices introduces additional complexities, and hence risks, for instance equipment failure, incorrect calibration, or incorrect use of the standard operating procedures (Hignett et al 2016). Factors such as effectiveness of the communication also influences the risk assessment process for teams assessing healthcare risks (Hemsley et al 2019;Martinetti et al 2019).…”

Section: Concepts and Methodologies For Risk Assessment In Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative risk assessment of dialysis care processes in the home and hospital care contexts

Chemweno

Pintelon

2020

Int J Syst Assur Eng Manag

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Dialysis processes within the home care context is associated with risk factors which are not very prominent in the hospital context. This includes risk factors such as unanticipated device malfunction, or erroneous operation of the equipment, which exposes the patient to injury while undergoing dialysis. Importantly, the mentioned risk factors are further attributed to technical aspects such as sub-optimal equipment maintenance or following improper clinical procedures when administering care to the patient. Hence, it is important to follow a methodological approach to identify and assess hazards embedded within the dialysis treatment process, and on this basis, formulate effective strategies to mitigate their negative consequences on patient safety. This paper presents a comparative risk assessment for in-hospital versus in-home dialysis care. For the two cases, the risk assessment considers expertise of care givers involved in administering dialysis. The findings show that performing risk assessment for hospital environment, is more structured owing to expertise of clinicians and care givers responsible for administering dialysis. However, assessing risks for the home-care environment is more challenging owing to absence of domain knowledge, hence a survey approach to structure the risk assessment process is necessary. Moreover, risks in the home care context is influenced by logistical aspects, and lack of domain knowledge for maintaining dialysis equipment. Overall, insights from the comparative studies yields important learning points expected to improve dialysis care as more healthcare providers transfer care to the home environment.

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A Role for Health Literacy in Protecting People With Limited English Proficiency Against Falling: A Retrospective, Cohort Study

Douglas,

Wallace,

Cheng

et al. 2025

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

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A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability: Highlighting an invisible population

Cited by 26 publications

References 110 publications

Falls in hospital patients with acquired communication disability secondary to stroke: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Falls in hospital patients with acquired communication disability secondary to stroke: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

A comparative risk assessment of dialysis care processes in the home and hospital care contexts

A Role for Health Literacy in Protecting People With Limited English Proficiency Against Falling: A Retrospective, Cohort Study

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