RESUMEN
We investigated the effect of using a fall risk screening tool in an electronic medical record system by using data for 25 039 patients in 24 general wards of a single institution. The probability of the occurrence of falls decreased after the tool was implemented, but using the tool did not reduce the actual occurrence of falls. This indicates that we must improve not only the assessment of the risk of falls but also the interventions to prevent falls.
Asunto(s)
Accidentes por Caídas/prevención & control , Registros Electrónicos de Salud/estadística & datos numéricos , Medición de Riesgo/métodos , Accidentes por Caídas/estadística & datos numéricos , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Habitaciones de Pacientes , Estudios Retrospectivos , Encuestas y CuestionariosRESUMEN
To support nursing care for the prevention of falls among inpatients at our institution, we developed and implemented a fall risk prediction tool. To evaluate its effectiveness, we compared the number of falls among inpatients before and after its implementation. The odds ratio for the probability of falling was 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.69-0.91) (p < 0.001), which was adjusted based on institutional data comprising 573,216 records from 25,039 patients in 24 general wards. Although whether nurses used the tool completely or whether the dissemination of fall prevention measures led to behavioral changes among the nurses in relation to their care remained unclear, the fall risk of inpatients appeared to be reduced after implementation of the prediction tool.