An exploration of risk for recurrent falls in two geriatric care settings

BMC Geriatrics

Maggie Gibson⁴  Iris Gutmanis³  Richard G Crilly⁵  Marita Kloseck²  Humeira Tariq¹ 

[1] Graduate Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, Ontario, Canada;School of Health Studies, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, Ontario, Canada;Specialized Geriatric Services, Parkwood Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Ontario, Canada;Veterans’ Care Program, Parkwood Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Ontario, Canada;Division of Geriatric Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine, Western University, Ontario, Canada

关键词: Quality assurance;    Long stay veterans’ unit;    Geriatric rehabilitation;    Repeat falls;   

Others  :  856747
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2318-13-106

 received in 2013-02-11, accepted in 2013-10-02,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Fall events were examined in two distinct geriatric populations to identify factors associated with repeat fallers, and to examine whether patients who use gait aids, specifically a walker, were more likely to experience repeat falls. Each unit already had a generic program for falls prevention in place.

Methods

Secondary data analysis was conducted on information collected during the pilot testing of a new quality assurance Incident Reporting Tool between October 2006 and September 2008. The study settings included an in-patient geriatric rehabilitation unit (GRU) and a long stay veterans’ unit (LSVU) in a rehabilitation and long-stay hospital in Ontario. Participants were two hundred and twenty three individuals, aged 65 years or older on these two units, who experienced one or more fall incidents during the study period.

Results

Logistic regression analyses showed that on the GRU age was significantly associated with repeat falls. On the LSVU first falls in the morning or late evening were associated with repeat falling. Walker as a gait aid listed at time of first fall was not associated with repeat falls.

Conclusions

This study suggests that different intervention may be necessary in different geriatric settings to identify, for secondary prevention, certain individuals for which the generic programs prove inadequate. Information collection with a specific focus on the issue of repeat falls may be necessary for greater insight.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Tariq et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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