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 da...