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Table 2 Association Between Patient Factors, Fall Type, and Fall Outcome

From: Patient and system factors associated with unassisted and injurious falls in hospitals: an observational study

 

Fall Type (n = 353)

 

Fall Outcome (n = 352)*

Patient Factor

Level

Assisted, n (%)

Unassisted, n (%)

p value†

Non-Injurious, n (%)

Injurious, n (%)

p value†

Age Category

81+

31 (21.2)

115 (78.8)

.053

90 (61.6)

56 (38.4)

.02

65–80

29 (23.8)

93 (76.2)

 

82 (67.2)

40 (32.8)

 

19–64

30 (35.3)

55 (64.7)

 

67 (79.8)

17 (20.2)

 

Gender

Male

34 (21.4)

125 (78.6)

.11

105 (66.5)

53 (33.5)

.60

Female

56 (28.9)

138 (71.1)

 

134 (69.1)

60 (30.9)

 

Cognitively Impaired‡

No

57 (38.3)

92 (61.7)

< .001

101 (68.2)

47 (31.8)

.91

Yes

33 (16.2)

171 (83.8)

 

138 (67.6)

66 (32.4)

 

Weak§

No

36 (23.2)

119 (76.8)

.39

107 (69.5)

47 (30.5)

.58

Yes

54 (27.3)

144 (72.7)

 

132 (66.7)

66 (33.3)

 

Incontinent§

No

84 (26.7)

231 (73.3)

.15

215 (68.5)

99 (31.5)

.51

Yes

6 (15.8)

32 (84.2)

 

24 (63.2)

14 (36.8)

 

Anti-coagulant§

No

87 (26.4)

242 (73.6)

.15

219 (66.8)

109 (33.2)

.11

Yes

3 (12.5)

21 (87.5)

 

20 (83.3)

4 (16.7)

 

Medications Increase Fall Riskǁ

No

7 (20.0)

28 (80.0)

.39

24 (68.6)

11 (31.4)

.88

Yes

73 (26.8)

199 (73.2)

 

183 (67.3)

89 (32.7)

 

Bed Type

Not Skilled

59 (22.9)

199 (77.1)

.054

174 (67.7)

83 (32.3)

.95

Skilled

31 (33.0)

63 (67.0)

 

64 (68.1)

30 (31.9)

 

Bed Type

Acute

55 (23.3)

181 (76.7)

.10

164 (69.8)

71 (30.2)

.12

Hospice

0 (0.0)

8 (100.0)

 

3 (37.5)

5 (65.2)

 

Skilled

31 (33.0)

63 (67.0)

 

64 (68.1)

30 (31.9)

 

Observation

4 (28.6)

10 (71.4)

 

7 (50.0)

7 (50.0)

 

Fall Time

22:00–03:59

11 (14.1)

67 (85.9)

.048

52 (66.7)

26 (33.3)

.57

04:00–09:59

28 (32.2)

59 (67.8)

 

63 (72.4)

24 (27.6)

 

10:00–15:59

24 (25.3)

71 (74.7)

 

66 (69.5)

29 (30.5)

 

16:00–21:59

25 (28.7)

62 (71.3)

 

54 (62.8)

32 (37.2)

 

Fall Location

In Bathroom

18 (23.7)

58 (76.3)

.68

40 (53.3)

35 (46.7)

.002

Not in Bathroom

72 (26.0)

205 (74.0)

 

199 (71.8)

78 (28.2)

 

Fall Related to Toileting#

No

45 (22.2)

158 (77.8)

.10

148 (72.9)

55 (27.1)

.02

Yes

45 (30.0)

105 (70.0)

 

91 (61.1)

58 (38.9)

 
  1. *Injury was unspecified for one fall
  2. †p value calculated using Pearson Chi-Square Test or Exact Pearson Chi-Square Test
  3. ‡Includes the three contributing patient factors of “cognitive impairment,” “impulsive behavior,” or “overestimated ability”
  4. §Identified as a contributing patient factor on the reporting form
  5. ǁAt the time of the fall, the patient was deemed to be on medication known to increase the risk of fall
  6. Includes patients in acute, hospice, and observation beds at the time of the fall
  7. #Fall was categorized as being related to toileting if the hospital checked “toileting/on commode w/assistance,” “toileting/on commode w/o assistance,” “ambulating to bathroom w/assistance,” “ambulating to bathroom w/o assistance,” or “dressing/undressing related to toileting,” in response to the question “Prior to the fall, what was the patient doing or trying to do?”
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BMC Geriatrics

ISSN: 1471-2318

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