Karakteristika ved pasient-fall på sykehus

Abstract

Background:

Patient falls are the most reported adverse event in hospitals. Risk factors reported in studies are age, mental status, impaired mobility, toilet needs and environmental factors. Patient falls increase the risk of complications and can lead to potential litigation.

Aim:

The aim of this paper is to report a study of characteristics of patient falls in a hospital in Norway.

Methods:

A retrospective study of 295 fall incident reports was performed in a 566-bed hospital in Norway. Information gathered included age, gender, time of day, patient characteristics, activity, environmental factors, and injury.

Results:

The fall rate was 1.8 per 1000 bed days. Falls at night were significantly higher compared to falls during the day or the evening (p <0.001). Patients (aged 70 and higher) represented 77 % of all falls. At the time of falling, 24 % of the patients were disoriented, 40 % had impaired mobility, and 37 % had toilet needs. The most common activity when falling was walking (45 %) and falling out of bed (40 %). Physical environmental factors were included in 19 % of all falls. Serious injury represented 8 % of all falls.

Conclusion:

Patient falls are a multifactoral problem. Analyzing incident reports about falls can highlight the problem and detect patterns and characteristics of patient falls in hospitals.