Citation

Schell K, Lyons D, Bodt B. Clin. Nurs. Res. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1054773820986682

PMID

33426904

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) among a convenience sample of older adults on two Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) units of the ChristianaCare™ in Delaware. Another aim was to determine if subjects with documented OH experienced falls. Retrospective de-identified data was obtained from electronic medical records for the years 2015 to 2018. Among all patients who had valid first orthostatic vital sign (OVS) readings (n = 7,745), 39.2% had orthostatic hypotension on the first reading. Among the patients, 42.8% were found to be hypotensive during OVS. Thirty-one (0.9%) of those with OH fell at some point during their stay. The odds ratio for falls in the presence of OH was 1.34 with a 95% confidence interval (0.82, 2.21), but a chi-square test failed to find significance (p = .2494). The results could not determine if OVS should be mandatory in fall prevention protocols.

Language: en

Keywords

fall prevalence; inpatient; older adults; orthostatic hypotension