Inpatient falls and injuries in older patients treated for femoral neck fracture

A prospective inpatient study was performed at the Orthopedic and Geriatric Departments at the Umea University Hospital, Sweden, to study inpatient falls, fall-related injuries, and risk factors for falls following femoral neck fracture surgery. Ninety-seven patients with femoral neck fracture aged 70 years or older were included, background characteristics, falls, injuries, and other postoperative complications were assessed and registered during the hospitalization. There were 60 postoperative falls among 26/97 patients (27%). The postoperative fall event rate was 16.3/1000 Days (95% CI 12.2-20.4). Thirty two percent of the falls resulted in injuries, 25% minor, and 7% serious ones. In multiple regression analyses, delirium after Day 7, HRR 4.62 (95% CI 1.24-16.37), male sex 3.92 (1.58-9.73), and sleeping disturbances 3.49 (1.24-9.86), were associated with inpatient falls. Forty-five percent of the patients were delirious the day they fell. Intervention programs, including prevention and treatment of delirium and sleeping disturbances, as well as better supervision of male patients, could be possible fall prevention strategies. Improvement of the quality of care and rehabilitation, with the focus on fall prevention based on these results, should be implemented in postoperative care of older people. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.