Risk assessment and incidence of falls in adult hospitalized patients.
Thiana Sebben Pasa, Tânia Solange Bosi De Souza Magnago, Janete De Souza Urbanetto and 3 others
PMID 28443991WHAT IT FOUND
In 831 adult inpatients, 19 fell.
High Morse Fall Scale risk was associated with more falls: 18 high-risk patients fell (5.8%), versus none low-risk. Hearing difficulty also marked higher falls (8 of 136).
Key findings
01In 831 monitored adult inpatients, 19 fell during 122 days; the fall incidence rate was 1.68% per person/day (95%CI 1.51-1.72%).
02Patients classified as high risk on average fell more often: 18 high-risk patients fell (5.8%), versus 1 moderate-risk patient (0.3%) and no low-risk patients.
03Hearing difficulty was associated with falls: 8 of 136 patients with hearing difficulty fell (5.6%) versus 11 of 676 without (1.6%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 19 falls occurred among 831 patients, so the risk-factor comparisons are based on small numbers. The study was done in medical and surgical services of one teaching hospital in Brazil, so it may not match other hospitals or patient groups. The authors noted the low prevalence of falls and the assessment period as limitations. They said a larger study is needed. The study did not test a fall-prevention programme, so it cannot show that Morse Fall Scale assessment reduced falls. The text and table disagree on the number of patients with hearing difficulty who fell: the text says 5, while the table says 8. The hearing difficulty finding was unexpected, and the authors found no other studies supporting it.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that the Morse Fall Scale prevents falls. The study only measured risk and observed who fell; it did not test a prevention programme. Do not treat hearing difficulty as a proven cause of falls. It was an unexpected association with only 8 falls among 136 patients with hearing difficulty, and the authors found no supporting studies.