Fall Risk Factors and Fall Risk Assessment of Inpatients

Abstract

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to identify the fall risk factors and to evaluate the effectiveness of the Morse Fall Scale(MFS) as an assessment tool among hospitalized inpatients. Methods: The medical records of a total of 294 patients who admitted to hospital from January 1 to December 31, 2010 were reviewed. One hundred forth seven patients who had experienced fall were matched with 147 patients who have never experienced fall. The fall information was obtained from electronic medical records and fall reports. Results: There were significant differences in visual disturbances, pain, emotional disturbances, sleep disorder, urination problems and elimination disorder at admission between fallers and non-fallers. Patients who had higher MFS scores at admission were more likely to fall as compared to the patients with lower MFS scores. When falls did occur, these occurred within five days following admission, in the patient room, among patients with alert mental status, and among patients who were ambulant with some assistance. Conclusion: The findings of this study support the need of using risk assessment tool for predicting risk for falls. This finding can be used as a useful resource to develop nursing intervention strategies for fall prevention at the hospital.

Use of the Nursing Outcomes Classification for Falls and Fall Prevention by Nurses in South Korea

“…Therefore, the performance rates of outcomes related to falls and fall prevention were relatively low in this study (on average, 36%), considering that up to 50% of patients in hospitals are exposed to fall risks and almost half of them have injuries caused by falls (Spoelsstra et al., ). However, identification of the key nursing outcomes using standardized terminologies is critically important because the incidences of falls and fall‐related injuries have not been effectively prevented in healthcare settings (Davison & Marrinan, ; Ganz et al., ; Kim & Choi‐Kwon, ; Kim & Jeong, ).…”

“…In addition, falls with serious injuries are ranked among the top 10 reported sentinel events in the JC sentinel event database (Joint Commission, ). Therefore, fall prevention must be given priority over other safety concerns in hospitals, and nurses should take charge of preventing falls in hospitals (Cameron et al., ; Davison & Marrinan, ; Kim & Choi‐Kwon, ; Kim & Jeong, ; Lake, Shang, Klaus, & Dunton, ; Montalvo, ).…”

Development of a senior-specific, citizen-oriented healthcare service system in South Korea based on the Canadian 48/6 model of care

“…Given the nature of elderly patients, safety-related problems such as delirium, loss of function, falls, and decubitus are twice as high as among young people during hospitalization [65,66]. In Korea, for hospitalized patients aged 65 years or older, the prevalence of delirium is 5.4 to 19.2% [67], the incidence of adverse drug reactions is 20.2% [68], and the incidence of falls is 42% [69]. In addition, the elderly may experience medical problems during hospitalization owing to changes in function, such as in vision, hearing, cognition, and the musculoskeletal system, caused by aging; further deterioration in underlying diseases or functioning may make it difficult to return to normal daily life [66,70].…”

Effects of Fall Prevention Education Program on Attitudes, Prevention Behaviors, and Satisfaction among Elderly Inpatients

“…낙상은 의료기관에서 가장 빈번히 발생하는 위해사건 중 하 나이며, 입원 환자의 낙상은 의료기관에 심각한 문제를 일으킨 다 [7,8]. 전통적으로 의료의 질은 치료의 임상적 효과로 평가되 었지만 최근에는 환자 안전이 중요한 가치로 다뤄진다 [3].…”