Disclosures: Dan P. Nguyen, MD: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest

Objective: Inpatient falls (IF) are the most common inpatient accident and are associated with monumental personal and societal consequences. A strong understanding of the trends and risk factors can guide us to formulate and implement the strategies to reduce IF among geriatric populations. Our primary objective is to investigate the temporal trends of IFs, patterns of IF related injuries, and discharge patterns among persons over the age of 65 years during 2013-2015. We also intend to analyze the potential contributing factors related to IFs in this population.

Design: This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis evaluating inpatient falls nationwide. Deidentified data was obtained from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) of the Healthcare Cost Utilization Project by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality from 2013-2015. Patients with IFs were identified using ICD-9-CM code of E849.7. Descriptive statistics was used for demographics and clinical information. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine risk factors associated with falls.Setting : N/AParticipants : N/A

Interventions: N/A

Main Outcome Measures: N/A

Results: The percentage of patients admitted experiencing IF trended upwards from 2012 to 2014, rising from 2.64% to 2.74%. Multivariate regression analysis showed that the most significant risk factor was a patient with a fall diagnosis prior to admission or who had an injury code as their primary diagnosis, which indicated that patients were 4.2 [4.19,4.28] (with 95% CI) times as likely to experience a fall during admission. Other significant risk factors identified included diagnoses of mental disorders, nervous system disorders, and ‘signs and symptoms of ill-defined conditions’. Significant comorbidities increasing risk of IFs include coagulopathies, electrolyte, and pulmonary circulation disorders.Conclusions: The greatest risk factor for IF is a fall diagnosis prior to admission or having an injury code as the primary diagnosis. Nervous system disorders, mental disorders, coagulopathies, electrolyte disorders and pulmonary circulation disorders were also associated with an increased risk of falls during admission.

Level of Evidence: Level III

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PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/a-retrospective-cross-sectional-analysis-of-inpatient-falls-to-evaluate-national-trends-and-risk-factors-using-data-from-the-nationwide-inpatient-sample/