Perceived Risk of falls among Acute Care Patients
Authors:   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Essa Miqdam Wafa Hassan , Othman Sfiani Reem Ali ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Alshehri Kholud Ali Mohammed ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, ELyass Eisa Etemad M ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Mahnash Tahany Ahmed Mohammed ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Alnahwi Zainab Ahmed Mohammed ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Thamil Alharbi Seham Meesh ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Aldarsoni Abeer Sultan Saad ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, R Alsamel Shahad Ahmed ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Dh Alotaibi Naif Hamoud ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, J Alanazi Azizah Hamad ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, M Alghareeb Jamal Metrib ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Alhenaki Majed Mohammad ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, S Alruthaya Fahad Abdullah ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health, Egab Almutairi Hammad ,   Saudi Arabia 11455, P.O.Box 1475 Ministry of Health
Published: September 2023

Purpose: In an effort to lower the number of falls that occur among hospitalized patients, several facilities have begun introducing various fall prevention programs. However, the efficacy of fall prevention programs is diminished if patients do not consider themselves to be at risk for falls and do not follow recommended procedures. The goal of this study was to characterize how patients in four different acute care specialist services felt about their risk of falling while in the hospital. Methods: One hundred patients admitted to the study hospital with a Morse Fall Scale score of 45 or higher were given the Patient Perception Questionnaire, a tool designed to assess a patient's perception of their own fall risk, fear of falling, and motivation to take part in fall prevention efforts. Scores on the Morse Fall Scale were gathered through a historical assessment of medical records. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and independent sample t tests were used to examine the data. Results: The average age was 65, and around half (52%) were men and half (48%) were women. Based on their ratings on the Morse Fall Scale, all 100 participants were classified as being at high risk for falls. However, only 55.5% of the individuals agreed with this assessment. The likelihood that a patient would seek assistance and the degree to which they feared falling both declined as their faith in their mobility improved. Patients hospitalized after a fall exhibited considerably lower confidence scores and greater fear scores than patients who had not been injured in a fall. Conclusions: Patients who have a high fall risk assessment score may not believe they are at risk for falls and may not take any steps to reduce their risk. The prevalence of falls in hospitals might be mitigated by the creation of a fall risk assessment technique that takes into account both objective and subjective factors.