Falls in the General Hospital Inpatients: Incidence, Associated Factors

Yang, Hwa-Mi; Chun, Byung-Chul

Journal of Korean Society Quality Assurance Health Care 2009;15(2): 107.
Published online December 30, 2009.

일개 종합병원 입원환자의 낙상 실태 및 관련 요인

양화미¹, 천병철²

¹가톨릭대학교 성바오로병원 QI팀
²고려대학교 보건대학원

Falls in the General Hospital Inpatients: Incidence, Associated Factors

Hwa-Mi Yang¹, Byung-Chul Chun²

¹Quality improvement team, St. Paul hospital
²Graduate School of public health, Korea University

Abstract

Background
To estimate fall incidence rate and associated factors in inpatients from a general hospital. Method : The data were collected from 104 fall incident reports developed by the patient safety committee in a general hospital in Seoul from 01 January 2007 to 31 December 2008. Information included general characteristics of patients, factors related to fall, types, places, circumstances and outcomes of fall.
Result
The incidence rate of fall, which was 4.4 per 1,000 total discharged patients and 0.5 per 1,000 patient-days, was much lower than that of several hospitals in the United States. The difference may reflect the different incidence reporting system of each hospital. Fall-prone patients were, in general, $$geq_-$$65 years of age, had an alert mental status, were ambulatory with some assistance, and were dependent on and ambulatory device. High incidence of falls was associated with patients with circulatory disease. The majority of fall events usually occurred in bed or at the bedside in the patient's room, and occurred more often during the night than during the day or evening. Risk factors of fall were use of drugs (antihypertensive or neuropsychiatric drugs) and environmental factors (e.g., overly high bed height, surrounding objects, inadequate fitness shoes and slippery floor). Physical injury occurred in 43.3% of fall events, which typically required diagnosis of injury and treatment such as suturing. Risk factors for repeated falls were use of a neuropsychiatric drug (odds ratio=13.9) and gait disturbance (odds ratio=91.2). Risk factors for fall-related injury were alert mental status (odds ratio=3.3 times more likely to fall than those who were drowsy or in a stupor) and general weakness(odds ratio=3.3 times more likely to fall than those who were not generally weak).
Conclusion
Medical and nursing staff should be aware of the fall risk factors of hospitalized patients and should intensively pursue preventative strategies. Development of fall prevention education based on these results is recommended.

Key words Fall;Risk factors;Inpatient;Patient safety;Hospital epidemiology;