Factors related to the high fall rate in long-term care residents with dementia

Kosse, Nienke, de Groot, Maartje, Vuillerme, Nicolas, Hortobágyi, Tibor and Lamoth, Claudine (2015) Factors related to the high fall rate in long-term care residents with dementia. International Psychogeriatrics, 27 (05). pp. 803-814. ISSN 1041-6102

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Abstract

Background: Falls in long-term care residents with dementia represent a costly but unresolved safety issue. The aim of the present study was to (1) determine the incidence of falls, fall-related injuries and fall circumstances, and (2) identify the relationship between patient characteristics and fall rate in long-term care residents with dementia.

Methods: Twenty long-term care residents with dementia (80 ± 11 years; 60% male) participated. Falls were recorded on a standardized form, concerning fall injuries, time and place of fall and if the fall was witnessed. Patient characteristics (66 variables) were extracted from medical records and classified into the domains: demographics, activities of daily living, mobility, cognition and behavior, vision and hearing, medical conditions and medication use. We used partial least squares (PLS) regression to determine the relationship between patient characteristics and fall rate.

Results: A total of 115 falls (5.1 ± 6.7 falls/person/year) occurred over 19 months, with 85% of the residents experiencing a fall, 29% of falls had serious consequences and 28% was witnessed. A combination of impaired mobility, indicators of disinhibited behavior, diabetes, and use of analgesics, beta blockers and psycholeptics were associated with higher fall rates. In contrast, immobility, heart failure, and the inability to communicate were associated with lower fall rates.

Conclusions: Falls are frequent and mostly unwitnessed events in long-term care residents with dementia, highlighting the need for more effective and individualized fall prevention. Our analytical approach determined the relationship between a high fall rate and cognitive impairment, related to disinhibited behavior, in combination with mobility disability and fall-risk-increasing-drugs (FRIDs).

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Professor Tibor Hortobágyi is a visiting professor at Northumbria University
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation
Depositing User:	Ay Okpokam
Date Deposited:	07 May 2015 14:11
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2019 16:26
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/22316

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