@article{ref1,
title="Association between characteristics of injurious falls and fall preventive interventions in acute medical and surgical units",
journal="Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences",
year="2020",
author="Francis-Coad, Jacqueline and Hill, Anne-Marie and Jacques, Angela and Chandler, A. Michelle and Richey, Phyllis A. and Mion, Lorraine C. and Shorr, Ronald I.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Hospital falls remain common and approximately 30% of falls in hospital result in injury. The aims of the study were to; i) identify the association between fall interventions present at the time of the injurious fall and injurious faller characteristics; ii) identify the association between fall preventive interventions present at the time of the injurious fall and the injurious fall circumstances. <br><br>METHODS: Secondary data analysis of de-identified case series of injurious falls across 24 acute medical/surgical units in the US. Variables of interest were falls prevention interventions (physical therapy, bed alarm, physical restraint, room change or a sitter) in place at the time of fall. Data were analyzed using logistic regression and hazard ratios. <br><br>RESULTS: There were 1033 patients with an injurious fall, occurrence peaked between day one and day four, with 46.8% of injurious falls having occurred by day three of admission. Injurious fallers with a recorded mental state change 24 hours prior to the fall were more likely to have a bed alarm provided (adjusted OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.61, 4.08) and receive a physical restraint as fall prevention interventions (adjusted OR 6.36, 95% CI 4.35, 9.30). Injurious fallers restrained fell later (stay day six) than those without a restraint (stay day four) (p=0.007) and had significantly longer lengths of stay (13 days versus nine days). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: On medical/surgical units, injurious falls occur early following admission suggesting interventions should be commenced immediately. Injurious fallers who had a physical restraint as an intervention had longer lengths of stay.<br><br>© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1079-5006",
doi="10.1093/gerona/glaa032",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa032"
}