• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.141-149
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• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify risk factors of accidental falls by age in the Korean elderly. Methods: The study subjects included 10,242 community-dwelling elders aged 65 or over. The data were analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Results: The risk factors of accidental falls in the younger old group (aged 65~74) include fear of falling (OR=16.28, 95% CI: 12.03~22.03), depression (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.06~1.44), and hearing impairment (OR=1.20, 95% CI: 1.01~1.43). The risk factors of accidental falls in the older old group (aged 75~84) include fear of falling (OR=11.54, 95% CI: 7.04~18.93), muscle strength (OR=1.36, 95% CI: 1.15~1.60), number of chronic disease (OR=1.65, 95% CI: 1.09~2.50), and presence of spouse (OR=1.27, 95% CI: 1.06~1.51). The risk factors of accidental falls in the oldest old group (aged 85 years old or older) include fear of falling (OR=8.05, 95% CI: 1.85~34.98) and exercise (OR=2.91, 95% CI: 1.36~6.24). Fear of falling is defined as a common factor in the all age groups. Conclusion: Different strategies should be developed for age groups to prevent elderly falls with understanding of contributing factors of falls in each group.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.56-66
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether the comprehensive nursing care service positively affected accidental falls and pressure injuries. Methods: This study was a retrospective study that analyzed the accidental falls and pressure injuries cases in an acute care hospital located in Seoul and compared the rates of accidental falls and pressure injuries before and after the comprehensive nursing care service was operated. Results: Comparing the accidental fall incidence rates per 100 person-months between a comprehensive nursing care ward and a general ward, it showed fewer accidental falls by 0.44 in comprehensive nursing care wards, but the result was not statistically significant. In the case of pressure ulcers, the incident rate per 100 person-month was 6.17 in general wards and 4.77 in comprehensive nursing care wards, which showed that the number of pressure ulcer patients was lower in comprehensive nursing care wards, however it was also not statistically significant. Conclusion: It is not confirmed that the operation of the comprehensive nursing care service contributes to the reduction of accidental hospital falls or pressure injuries. Follow-up studies are recommended to determine the effectiveness of comprehensive nursing services in quality indicators.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.107-113
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for falls among the elderly living in community. Method: This was a descriptive study. The subjects comprised 80 elderly aged 65 years or over living in D city. The instruments used for this study was the MDS-HC V2.0. The data was analyzed by SPSS Win 14.0 using t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation. Result: Among the socio-demographic characteristics, the significant differences were found in ADL by gender and marital status. Older elderly(${\geq}85$) used more medications than other elderly. The elderly were use average 4.33 medications, but 46.3% of the subjects didn't have the physician reviewed all medications. There was statistically significant correlation between number of medications and accidental falls. Conclusion: Nurses should inspect about the number of medications, drug interaction, and side effects. It would be preventive intervention for falls in elderly.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.420-430
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• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore characteristics of and risk factors for accidental inpatient falls. Methods: Participants were classified as fallers or non-fallers based on the fall history of inpatients in a tertiary hospital in Seoul between June 2014 and May 2015. Data on falls were obtained from the fall report forms and data on risk factors were obtained from the electronic nursing records. Characteristics of fallers and non-fallers were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Risk factors for falls were identified using univariate analyses and logistic regression analysis. Results: Average length of stay prior to the fall was 21.52 days and average age of fallers was 61.37 years. Most falls occurred during the night shifts and in the bedroom and were due to sudden leg weakness during ambulation. It was found that gender, BMI, physical problems such elimination, gait, vision and hearing and medications such as sleeping pills, antiarrhythmics, vasodilators, and muscle relaxant were statistically significant factors affecting falls. Conclusion: The findings show that there are significant risk factors such as BMI and history of surgery which are not part of fall assessment tools. There are also items on fall assessment tools which are not found to be significant such as mental status, emotional unstability, dizziness, and impairment of urination. Therefore, these various risk factors should be examined in the fall risk assessments and these risk factors should be considered in the development of fall assessment tools.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.252-259
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• 2023

Purpose: Falls are a common cause of unintentional injuries in infants. This study was conducted to examine the patterns of healthcare utilization following infant falls in South Korea. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study utilized an online survey designed to gather information regarding the general characteristics of parents and infants, fall-related variables, and healthcare use. Results: The most serious falls identified by parents occurred at an average infant age of 6.97 months. Most fall incidents took place indoors (95.7%), and many occurred under the supervision of caregivers (68.0%). Following the fall, 36.4% of the participants used healthcare services. Logistic regression analysis revealed that healthcare use following an infant fall was significantly associated with being a firstborn child (odds ratio [OR]=5.32, 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.19-15.28) and falling from a caregiver's arms (OR=4.22; 95% CI, 1.45-13.68). Conclusion: To prevent and decrease the frequency of infant falls, improvements are needed in both the domestic environment and parenting approaches.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.27-40
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• 2016

Purpose: Globally, falls are a major public health problem. The study aimed to evaluate the predictive validity of the Timed Up and Go test (TUGT) as a screening tool for fall risk. Methods: An electronic search was performed Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochran Library, KoreaMed and the National Digital Science Library and other databases, using the following keywords: 'fall', 'fall risk assessment', 'fall screening', 'mobility scale', and 'risk assessment tool'. The QUADAS-II was applied to assess the internal validity of the diagnostic studies. Thirteen studies were analyzed using meta-analysis with MetaDisc 1.4. Results: The selected 13 studies reporting predictive validity of TUGT of fall risks were meta-analyzed with a sample size of 1004 with high methodological quality. Overall predictive validity of TGUT was as follows. The pooled sensitivity 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.67-0.77), pooled specificity 0.58 (95% CI: 0.54-0.63) and sROC AUC was 0.75 respectively. Heterogeneity among studies was a moderate level in sensitivity. Conclusion: The TGUT's predictive validity for fall risk is at a moderate level. Although there is a limit to interpret the results for heterogeneity between the literature, TGUT is an appropriate tool to apply to all patients at a potential risk of accidental fall in a hospital or long-term care facility.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.613-625
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine the effects of a fall prevention program on falls, physical function, psychological function, and home environmental safety in frail elders living at home in rural communities. Methods: The design of this study was a nonequivalent control group pre posttest design. The study was conducted from July to November, 2012 with 30 participants in the experimental group and 30 in the control group. Participants were registered at the public health center of E County. The prevention program on falls consisted of laughter therapy, exercise, foot care and education. The program was provided once a week for 8 weeks and each session lasted 80 minutes. Results: The risk score for falls and depression in the experimental group decreased significantly compared with scores for the control group. Compliance with prevention behavior related to falls, knowledge score on falls, safety scores of home environment, physical balance, muscle strength of lower extremities, and self-efficacy for fall prevention significantly increased in the experimental group compared with the control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that the prevention program on falls is effective for the prevention of falls in frail elders living at home.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.227-237
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was to identify the experience of falls and activities of daily living, health-related quality of life among the aged in community. Method: Subjects of this study were used by the raw data is based on the Community Health Survey in 2008. The subjects consisted of 73 persons who have experienced falls and of randomized 73 persons who inexperienced falls among 3755 the aged over the age of 65, living in Chungnam Province. The data were collected by using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 14.0 for windows. Result: Most of accidents and poisonings were caused by slide/falls, and took place at home. Especially women experienced falls at home. Lower extremities were the most injured area. There was a statistical difference in activities of daily living, health-related quality of life in two groups: inexperienced group and experienced group. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the falls were related to activities of daily living and health-related quality of life. So it is necessary to give information about falls in the aged and further study.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.202-210
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• 2017

Purpose: In this study an investigation was done of injuries from inpatient falls and diagnostic tests and treatment after falls to identify what factors affect the occurrence of injury from inpatient falls in a tertiary hospital. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were retrieved for 428 fall events from data reported between January 1 and December 31, 2015 and were retrieved from the patient-safety reporting system in the hospital's electronic health records. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed with STATA 13.0. Results: Of the patients, 197 (46.0%) had physical injuries due to falls, 119 (27.8%) were given further diagnostic tests, and 358 (83.6%) received treatment including close observation after inpatient falls. Logistic-regression results identified that age, department, and risk factors had significant impact on injuries from falls. Conclusion: Findings indicate that to reduce the severity of injury after inpatient falls, each hospital should regularly evaluate identified factors, design fall-prevention practices specialized for elders and vulnerable patients, and initiate environmental and equipment innovations.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.57-70
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• 2019

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors for falls in tertiary hospital inpatients and to suggest data for developing a nursing intervention program for preventing falls. Methods: Data were collected between January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017. Kaplan-Meier estimation was used to measure the survival rate, and the log-rank test was used for the differences between the fall group and the non-fall group. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify the risk factors for falls. Results: The incidence rate of falls for the inpatients was 1.2 cases per 1,000 days of hospitalization. The risk factors for falls were more likely to be found among those who were aged ${\geq}81$, had not undergone surgery, had poor joint motion, had unsteady gait, needed help or supervision, used assistive devices, had comorbidity, and took at least two drugs. Conclusion: For the inpatients, the risk factors for falls included age, surgery, comorbidity, medication that could change mobility, joint motion, and use of patient care equipment. It is necessary to give special attention to inpatients who have any of these risk factors and to develop a falls risk assessment tool.