Downton Fall Risk Index during hospitalisation is associated with fall-related injuries after discharge: a longitudinal observational study

Questions: Among older people who are hospitalised, what is the predictive validity of the Downton Fall Risk Index (DFRI) in relation to fall-related injury after discharge? What is the predictive validity of the DFRI among males and females in this setting? Design: Prospective, longitudinal, observational study. Participants: All hospital admissions during 2012 at three geriatric clinics in the Stockholm County Council were monitored. Patients aged > 65 years who did not die during the admission and who lived in the Stockholm County Council region were included. Outcome measures: The DFRI consists of five modules: previous falls, medication, sensory deficits, mental state, and gait. Three or more points indicate an increased fall risk. Data on DFRI, health status and medications were collected prior to discharge. Data regarding fall-related injuries were collected up to 6 months after discharge. Poisson multivariate regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the association between DFRI and fall-related injuries. Results: In total, 6650 patients were analysed. The cut-off >= 3 points in the DFRI was significantly associated with fall-related injury when confounding variables were controlled for (IRR 1.94, 95% CI 1.60 to 2.38). Among individual modules, only previous falls (IRR 2.58, 95% CI 2.22 to 3.01) and unsafe gait (IRR 1.79, 95% CI 1.53 to 2.09) were associated with fall-related injuries. Stratified analyses showed a higher risk ratio for men compared to women regarding the DFRI, but the test for an interaction effect was not significant. Conclusion: The risk of post-discharge fall-related injury is increased among older hospitalised people with an increased fall risk, according to the DFRI, especially those who had previous falls or unsafe gait. Although the DFRI tool is predictive, previous falls and gait are the measures that are most worthy of focus. (C) 2018 Australian Physiotherapy Association. Published by Elsevier B.V.