The Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale: a case-control study.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess whether the Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS) identifies hospitalized pediatric patients at high risk for falls. DESIGN AND METHODS: The study was a matched case-control design. A chart review of 153 pediatric cases who fell and 153 controls who did not fall were pair-matched by age, gender, and diagnosis. RESULTS: High-risk patients fell almost twice as often as low-risk patients (odds ratio 1.87, confidence interval = 1.01, 3.53, p = .03). PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS A Falls Prevention Pediatric Program with the HDFS tool addresses the Joint Commission Patient Safety Goals, but further research is needed to examine HDFS sensitivity-specificity.