Risk factors of falling among hospitalized patients with neurological disease – post-fall analysis

Abstract

Introduction: Post-fall analysis of fall risk factors is an effective intervention in minimizing the fall risk in inpatients. Aim of the research: To identify significant fall risk factors in patients with neurological disease, who fell during hospitalization. Material and methods: Forty adult inpatients were included in a retrospective quantitative cross-sectional study, who fell in the neurological department in the period 01/2014–01/2020. The research protocol contains selected fall risk factors, the Morse Fall Scale (MFS), and the Barthel ADL Index. The Random Forest method was used to identify significant fall risk fac- tors. ROC with AUC was used to assess the predictive value of fall risk factors. Results: The mean age of the sample was 70.50 ±15.20 years. The most common fall risk factors in the sample included the following: gait, balance and mobility disorders, polymorbidity ≥ 5 medical diagnoses, and polypharmacotherapy ≥ 5 drug classes. The mean MFS score was high (75.8 ±26.6), and the after-fall MFS score increased (97.8 fall predictive of fall risk