The incidence of falls in intensive care survivors

Inpatient Falls

“…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][53][54][55][56] Two additional risk factors that are often mentioned are male sex and poor functioning or inability to independently perform activities of daily living. 13,15,19,24,27,35,56,57 …”

Falls in critical care: a local review to identify incidence and risk

“…More recently this number was calculated to be over 250,000 per annum in English hospitals alone (Royal College of Physicians, ), resulting in a median incidence of 6·8/1000 bed days. Other reports of falls incidence within acute hospitals has fluctuated between 2 and 18 falls/1000 bed days (Patman et al , ), with rates varying significantly depending on the patient mix (Enloe et al , ). Higher rates of falls have been found in patients with medical, neuroscience, psychiatric or rehabilitation disorders, and in critical care rates have been lower with an incidence of 0·78/1000 bed days (Enloe et al , ).…”

Exploring the capacity to ambulate after a period of prolonged mechanical ventilation

“…Of these, 42 (22%) achieved this milestone during the ICU admission. The median time between admission to the ICU and when the patient first stood was 19 (19) days. A total of 155 patients (82%) walked during their acute care stay.…”

“…Where patients had multiple admissions during the study period, only data pertaining to their first eligible admission were included in the analyses. Details regarding the characteristics of these patients, together with the incidence of falls in this sample, have been described previously [19].…”