Characteristics of falls in hospitalized patients

Kerzman, Hana; Chetrit, Angela; Brin, Luna; Toren, Orly

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03080.x

Cited by 51 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Patient characteristics (including gender, age and length of stay), circumstances of falls, such as location, time, and patient activities at times of falls, severity of injuries sustained, and most risk factors, varied significantly across the three departments. Our study also confirms earlier findings [8,22] that patients who fell while hospitalized were, on average, older and hospitalized longer than those who did not fall.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…The varying number of falls per working shift among the three clinical departments in our hospital is within the range of other studies [1,22] . The higher proportion of patient falls during the night shift may reflect the patients' unfamiliarity with the hospital environment at night, along with a reluctance to disturb either roommates or nurses.…”

Section: Time Of Fallssupporting

confidence: 57%

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Characteristics of Hospital Inpatient Falls across Clinical Departments

et al. 2008

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Background: Hospital inpatient falls are common and may lead to injuries and prolonged hospitalization. Although hospital studies have reported overall fall rates and injuries associated with falls, few have addressed population characteristics and circumstances of falls across clinical departments within a hospital setting. Objective: To determine inpatient fall rates in an urban public hospital and to explore associated characteristics across clinical departments. Methods: The study was conducted in a 300-bed urban public hospital in Switzerland from 1999 to 2003. Patient data and data from the hospital’s standardized fall reporting system on hospital inpatients’ first falls, along with associated characteristics, across the departments of internal medicine, geriatrics and surgery, were analyzed. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests: χ² and ANOVA tests with multiple comparisons tests (post-hoc analysis) were used. Results: Over this 5-year period, 34,972 patients were hospitalized (female 53.6%; mean age 67.3 ± 19.3 years; mean length of stay 11.9 ± 13.2 days) including 2,512 patients (7.5%) who experienced at least one fall during their hospitalization (geriatrics 24.8%; internal medicine 8.8%; surgery 1.9%). The fall rates per 1,000 patient (adjusted for age) days differed significantly between all of the departments (geriatrics 10.7; internal medicine 9.6; surgery: 3.2) (p < 0.001). Overall, 30.1% of the patients who fell experienced minor injuries and 5.1% major injuries. In geriatrics, fall-related circumstances such as transferring were more common (40.4%) than in medicine (33%) or surgery (30.4%) (p < 0.001), whereas falling out of bed was rarer (16.4%) (surgery 27.1%; internal medicine 20.5%) (p < 0.001). In addition, the prevalence of risk factors among patients who fell varied significantly among clinical departments, except for impaired cognition and narcotic use. Conclusion: In the hospital studied, inpatient falls are significantly more common in departments of geriatrics and internal medicine than in surgical departments. Fall rates, related injuries and circumstances of inpatient falls varied significantly among clinical departments, probably due to differences in patient characteristics. When monitoring falls, hospitals should therefore consider differences in characteristics associated with patient falls across clinical departments. High priorities should be allocated in view of identifying patients at risk of falling and implementing fall prevention strategies and interventions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Time Of Fallssupporting

confidence: 57%

Characteristics of Hospital Inpatient Falls across Clinical Departments

et al. 2008

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“…Our tool, named IPFRAT, comprises 11 items, and is easy to understand and use in a real setting. The 10 fall episodes observed during the study period confirm the data found in literature about the frequency and therefore the importance of the event (Blair, 2005;Kerzman et al, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Development and Validation of A New Tool for Assessing Risk of Falls in Acute Psychiatric Settings

Morici¹,

Terzoni²,

Ferrara³

et al. 2015

Int J Emerg Ment Health

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“…9,13,14,19,21,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] One of the most common populations studied and cited as high risk of falls is the older adult (!65). 8,16,17,[27][28][29][30][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] Medications including benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, antihypertensives, antidepressants, and sleep aids have also been targeted as high-risk medications. 8,[26][27][28][31][32][33][34][35]42,[49][50][51][52]…”

Section: Risk Stratificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inpatient Falls

Cumbler

Simpson

Rosenthal

et al. 2013

The Neurohospitalist

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In this 2 part series, analysis of the risk stratification tools that are available, definition for the scope of the problem, and potential solutions through a review of the literature are presented. A systematic review was used to identify articles for risk stratification and interventions. Three risk stratification systems are discussed, St Thomas's Risk Assessment Tool in Falling Elderly Inpatients, Morse Fall Scale, and the Hendrich Fall Risk Model. Of these scoring systems, the Hendrich Fall Risk Model is the easiest to use and score. Predominantly, multifactorial interventions are used to prevent patient falls. Education and rehabilitation are common themes in studies with statistically significant results. The second article presents a guide to implementing a quality improvement project around hospital falls. A 10-step approach to Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles is described. Specific examples of problems and analysis are easily applicable to any institution. Furthermore, the sustainability of interventions and targeting new areas for improvement is discussed. Although specific to falls in the hospitalized patient, the goal is to present a stepwise approach which is broadly applicable to other areas requiring quality improvement.

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Characteristics of falls in hospitalized patients

Cited by 51 publications

References 26 publications

Characteristics of Hospital Inpatient Falls across Clinical Departments

Characteristics of Hospital Inpatient Falls across Clinical Departments

Development and Validation of A New Tool for Assessing Risk of Falls in Acute Psychiatric Settings

Inpatient Falls

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