Accumulated incidence of falls in people hospitalised with cancer and related factors.
Maria Montserrat Martí-Dillet, Cristina Fernández-Rodriguez, Aniol Ginesta-Guanter and 1 others
PMID 37138451WHAT IT FOUND
Most falls in hospitalised cancer patients happened at night, in the bathroom, or while walking, with the patient unaccompanied.
Weakness or loss of balance caused nearly half. Age and psychotropic drugs were linked to injuries, but most falls caused no harm.
Key findings
01Falls occurred most frequently among conscious, unaccompanied patients who were walking, during the night shift, and in the bathroom.
02Weakness or loss of balance was the type of fall in nearly half of cases (48.7%), followed by slipping or tripping (25.6%).
03Older age and the administration of fall-risk-increasing drugs in the 24 hours before the fall were associated with sustaining an injury.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study only analysed patients who fell, so it could not compare risk factors against those who did not fall. Some falls without consequences may not have been recorded. Data was collected from a single region in Spain, which may limit generalisability to other healthcare systems.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this study proves that specific interventions like physiotherapy or nursing rounds prevent falls. It is an observational study describing who falls and when, not a trial testing whether changing care reduces fall rates.