Data from: Risk factors of falls in inpatients and their practical use in identifying high-risk persons at admission, Fukushima Medical University Hospital cohort study

Objectives: To clarify the risk factors for falls in hospital settings and
to propose the use of such factors to identify high-risk persons at
admission. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: Fukushima Medical
University Hospital, Japan, from August 2008 and September 2009.
Participants: 9957 adult consecutive inpatients admitted to our hospital.
Methods: Information was collected at admission from clinical records
obtained from a structured questionnaire conducted in face-to-face
interviews with subjects by nurses and doctors and fall events were
collected from clinical records.Results: The proportion of patients who
fell during follow-up was 2.5% and the incidence of falls was 3.28 per 100
person-days. There were significant differences in age, history of
falling, cognitive dysfunction, planned surgery, wheelchair use, need for
help to move, use of a remote caring system, rehabilitation, use of
laxative, hypnotic or psychotropic medications and need for help with
activities of daily living (ADL) between patients who did and did not
fall. Multivariable adjusted ORs for falls showed that age, history of
falls and need for help with ADL were common risk factors in both men and
women. Using psychotropic medication also increased the risk of falling in
men while cognitive dysfunction and use of hypnotic medication increased
the risk of falling in women. Planned surgery was associated with a low
risk of falls in women. Conclusions: To prevent falls in inpatients it is
important to identify high-risk persons. Age, history of falling and the
need for help with ADL are the most important pieces of information to be
obtained at admission. Care plans for patients including fall prevention
should be clear and considered.