Fall Among Geriatric Patients: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes

Zainol Akbar Zainal, Rosnani Hashim and Nur Aisya Abu Bakar

Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Cyberjaya, Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia

Department of Pharmacy, Hospital Kajang, Selangor

*Corresponding author email: zainol.akbar@cyberjaya.edu.my

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Fall among geriatric patients has become a great concern that leads to public health problem, including in Malaysia. To date, there is lack of local published studies on the prevalence of fall among geriatric patients and its associated clinical outcomes.

Objective(s): This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence, risk factors and clinical outcomes of falls among geriatric patients.

Methodologies: Convenient sampling method was used to select patient admitted to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR), Klang in 2016 and 2017. Morse Fall Scale (MFS) was used to classify the risk of falls. Regression analysis was used to measure the association between demographic factors and clinical characteristic with falls. Independent T-test was used to measure the difference in mean number of comorbidities and length of stay in hospital between fallers.

Results: A total of 132 patients were included in this study. This study found that the prevalence of fall was 30 cases among geriatrics. Majority of fallers (73.3%) were classified with high risk of falling. There was a statistically significant association between kidney impairment and falls (OR= 3.14; p=0.018). There was a statistically significant difference in the mean length of stay in hospital between fallers with ≤ 1 comorbidity and those with ≥ 2 comorbidities.

Conclusion: Fall is prevalent among geriatric patients and more effective prevention methods are important especially for patients with kidney impairment and multiple comorbidities.

Keywords: Geriatric, fall, prevalence, risk factors, outcomes