Investigation on the application status of falls prevention practice evidence in elderly inpatients in 81 Chinese comprehensive tertiary hospitals / 中国实用护理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the application status of the practice evidence of falls prevention in elderly inpatients in Chinese comprehensive tertiary hospitals.Methods:Using a self-designed questionnaire based on the practice evidence of falls prevention in elderly inpatients to investigate the application status of that in 81 Chinese comprehensive tertiary hospitals.Results:93.83% (76/81) of the investigated hospitals had a falls screen in the admission assessment of elderly inpatients, and 49.38% (40/81) of the surveyed hospitals used Morse Falls Scale to screen. At the same time, 62.96%(51/81) of the hospitals had falls assessment of elderly inpatients, while only 25.93%-40.74% of the hospitals included the fear of falls, urinary incontinence, footwear, as well as foot problems in the falls screen or assessment. In addition, the implementation rate of falls prevention was 12.35%-79.01% in the hospitals surveyed, and only 60.49% (49/81) of the hospitals had individualized falls prevention intervention. Furthermore, the falls prevention participation rate of primary nurses and doctors, as well as patients′ care was higher than 80.00%, but that of pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists and physiotherapists was only between 12.35% to 24.69%.Conclusions:Hospitals should take the characteristics of environment and elderly inpatients in the hospital into consideration to choose the risk factors which should be included in the falls screen/assessment, as well as select the appropriate screen/assessment tools. Meanwhile, hospitals should culture and encourage the right workers′ participation to build a multidisciplinary team for falls assessment and intervention to achieve the goal of falls and falls injuries prevention with the evidence.