The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Predictors for falls among hospital inpatients with impaired mobility

Predictors for falls among hospital inpatients with impaired mobility
Predictors for falls among hospital inpatients with impaired mobility
Gait and balance disturbances have been shown to predispose to falls in hospital. We aimed to investigate the patient characteristics associated with an unsafe gait and to determine what features predispose to falling in this group of hospital inpatients. In a prospective open observational study we studied 825 patients admitted for rehabilitation following acute medical illness or a surgical procedure. The patient's gait was assessed with the 'get up and go' test and classified into one of four categories-normal; abnormal but safe with or without mobility aids; unsafe; or unable. 72.6% of patients were assessed as having an unsafe gait. The factors independently associated with an unsafe gait were confusion, abnormal lower limbs, hearing defects and the use of tranquillizers. Patients with an unsafe gait who fell were more likely than the non-fallers within the group to have had falls in the past (85.3% versus 73.8%) and to be confused (66.2% versus 34.1%). Patients with both these characteristics had a 37.5% chance of falling compared with 15.4% in patients with one and 11.2% in patients with none of these characteristics. The presence of confusion and a history of falls identifies those patients who are at greatest risk of falls. Such patients might be the focus of special efforts at falls prevention.
Accidental Falls/prevention & control, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Confusion/complications, Female, Gait, Homes for the Aged, Humans, Inpatients/statistics & numerical data, Male, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Tranquilizing Agents/adverse effects
0141-0768
266-269
Vassallo, Michael
15d899f4-f6a5-42d7-8093-bd2c4565b561
Vignaraja, Raj
5952e3c2-c489-4b45-9d80-ae9d3ec7240f
Sharma, Jagdish C
c4a0cee5-2303-4a82-af10-884fd4a32919
Briggs, Roger
a6b65ef0-e90c-4c07-bf5b-b70130c128b3
Allen, Stephen C
70bcdcd4-9637-43fe-a907-826a35dcf738
Vassallo, Michael
15d899f4-f6a5-42d7-8093-bd2c4565b561
Vignaraja, Raj
5952e3c2-c489-4b45-9d80-ae9d3ec7240f
Sharma, Jagdish C
c4a0cee5-2303-4a82-af10-884fd4a32919
Briggs, Roger
a6b65ef0-e90c-4c07-bf5b-b70130c128b3
Allen, Stephen C
70bcdcd4-9637-43fe-a907-826a35dcf738

Vassallo, Michael, Vignaraja, Raj, Sharma, Jagdish C, Briggs, Roger and Allen, Stephen C (2004) Predictors for falls among hospital inpatients with impaired mobility. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 97 (6), 266-269. (doi:10.1177/014107680409700603).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Gait and balance disturbances have been shown to predispose to falls in hospital. We aimed to investigate the patient characteristics associated with an unsafe gait and to determine what features predispose to falling in this group of hospital inpatients. In a prospective open observational study we studied 825 patients admitted for rehabilitation following acute medical illness or a surgical procedure. The patient's gait was assessed with the 'get up and go' test and classified into one of four categories-normal; abnormal but safe with or without mobility aids; unsafe; or unable. 72.6% of patients were assessed as having an unsafe gait. The factors independently associated with an unsafe gait were confusion, abnormal lower limbs, hearing defects and the use of tranquillizers. Patients with an unsafe gait who fell were more likely than the non-fallers within the group to have had falls in the past (85.3% versus 73.8%) and to be confused (66.2% versus 34.1%). Patients with both these characteristics had a 37.5% chance of falling compared with 15.4% in patients with one and 11.2% in patients with none of these characteristics. The presence of confusion and a history of falls identifies those patients who are at greatest risk of falls. Such patients might be the focus of special efforts at falls prevention.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 1 June 2004
Keywords: Accidental Falls/prevention & control, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Confusion/complications, Female, Gait, Homes for the Aged, Humans, Inpatients/statistics & numerical data, Male, Predictive Value of Tests, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors, Tranquilizing Agents/adverse effects

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 37816
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/37816
ISSN: 0141-0768
PURE UUID: 51111c62-8551-437b-81d5-cb2e44067270

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 31 May 2006
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 08:01

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Michael Vassallo
Author: Raj Vignaraja
Author: Jagdish C Sharma
Author: Roger Briggs
Author: Stephen C Allen

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×