Falls in Hospitals: Challenging Traditional Risk Assessments With New Insights Into Patient Mobility.
Erik H Hoyer, Daniel L Young, Chi Zhang and 2 others
PMID 40019049WHAT IT FOUND
Hospitalised patients with lower mobility capability fell more often.
Actual mobility showed a U-shaped pattern: bed-level and high-walking patients fell less than those in between. Capability and performance may identify different fall risks.
Key findings
01The JHFRAT mobility score showed an approximately linear association with fall risk.
02Higher AM-PAC mobility capability was associated with lower fall incidence.
03JH-HLM mobility performance showed an inverse U-shaped relationship with fall incidence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The analysis was exploratory and had no formal sample size calculation. It excluded paediatric and psychiatric patients, emergency department stays, and patients with a length of stay longer than 62 days. It used records from three hospitals in Maryland, so local documentation practice may affect results. It reports associations from electronic health records, not tested fall-prevention effects.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that making patients walk more will prevent falls. This was an observational electronic health record analysis; high walking was associated with fewer falls, but no intervention was tested.