Falls among hospitalized patients in an acute care hospital: Analyses of incident reports

Abstract

Falls cause injuries such as fractures, skin lacerations, bleeding, and head injury, and could result in more severe medical conditions in hospitalized patients. We retrospectively investigated the incidence and characteristics of falls among hospitalized patients in an acute care hospital from incident reports by hospital staff between January and June 2013. There were 154 falls in 135 patients, 2 of which resulted in fracture. The average age of patients who fell was 63.9 (range 0 to 91) years. Many falls occurred at the bedside (68.2%). Approximately half of all falls were related to elimination (46.6%). The most common time of discovery of falls was 2: 00-2: 59 AM (14/154; 9.1%), followed by early in the morning when patients would actively move. Fall rates in our hospital were 1.39 falls per 1,000 patient days. The department of respiratory medicine and rheumatology had the highest fall rate (3.08 falls per 1,000 patient days), followed by the departments of neurosurgery and neurology (2.98 falls per 1,000 patient days). This study revealed the characteristics of falls in an acute care hospital, and suggests that their notification in the hospital might help reduce the incidence of falls in hospitalized patients.