Predictive Effects of Previous Fall History on Accuracy of Fall Risk Assessment Tool in Acute Care Settings / 기본간호학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To explore the usefulness of previous fall history as a triage variable for inpatients. METHODS: Medical records of 21,382 patients, admitted to medical units of one tertiary hospital, were analyzed retrospectively. Inpatient falls were identified from the hospital's self-report system. Non-falls in 1,125 patients were selected by a stratified matching sampling with 125 patients with falls (0.59%). A comparative and predictive accuracy analysis was conducted to describe differences between the two groups with and without a history of falls. Logistic regression was used to measure the effect size of the fall history. RESULTS: The fall history group showed higher prevalence by 9 fold than the non-fall history group. The relationships between falls and relevant variables which were significant in the non-fall history group, were not significant for the fall history group. Falls in the fall history group were 25 times more likely than in the non-fall group. Predictive accuracy of the risk assessment tool showed almost zero specificity in the fall history group. CONCLUSION: The presence of fall history, the fall prevalence, variables relevant to falls, and the accuracy of the risk tool were different, which support the usefulness of the fall history as a triage variable.