Heterogeneity between studies indicates that the Morse Falls Scale and STRATIFY may still be useful in particular setting s , but that widespread adoption of either is unlikely to generate benefits significantly greater than that of nursing staff clinical judgment
INTRODUCTION Fall risk screening tools are frequently used as a part of falls prevention programs in hospitals .
Design -related bias in evaluations of tool predictive accuracy could lead to overoptimistic results , which would then contribute to program failure in practice .
Factors associated with falling in elderly hospital patients.
Forty-four patients aged 65 years and over who fell whilst in an acute hospital and 44 patients who did not fall during their hospital stay underwent structured medical examinations to identify factors associated with falling . The control subjects were matched for age ( + /- 3 years ) , sex , patient type , and primary diagnosis . The examination was based on established assessment s of posture , balance and gait , the musculoskeletal system , vision , cardiovascular status , and neurological function . Bivariate analyses revealed seven assessment measures that were significantly associated with falls : cognitive impairment , particularly impaired orientation ; evidence of previous cerebrovascular accident ; incoordination as measured clinical ly ; inability to perform the ' Get-up- and -go ' test , especially an inability to turn around after a 5-metre walk , and the use of psycho-active medications . Of these variables , impaired orientation , psycho-active drug use , evidence of stroke , and impaired performance in the ' Get-up- and -go ' test were included in a stepwise logistic regression which correctly classified 80 % of the patients into faller and non-faller groups . Falling was also related to the number of these identified risk factors . These findings suggest that a simple screening protocol , taking about 5 min to complete , can assist in the identification of patients at risk of falls whilst in hospital
Heterogeneity between studies indicates that the Morse Falls Scale and STRATIFY may still be useful in particular setting s , but that widespread adoption of either is unlikely to generate benefits significantly greater than that of nursing staff clinical judgment
INTRODUCTION Fall risk screening tools are frequently used as a part of falls prevention programs in hospitals .
Design -related bias in evaluations of tool predictive accuracy could lead to overoptimistic results , which would then contribute to program failure in practice .