Exploring the Environment behind In-Patient Falls and Their Relation to Hospital Overcrowdedness—A Register-Based Observational Study

Dimitrios Stathopoulos, Eva Ekvall Hansson and Kjerstin Stigmar
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Dimitrios Stathopoulos: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
Eva Ekvall Hansson: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden
Kjerstin Stigmar: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, 22100 Lund, Sweden

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-10

Abstract: (1) Background: Inpatient falls are a serious threat to patients’ safety and their extrinsic factors are, at present, insufficiently described. Additionally, hospital overcrowdedness is known for its malicious effects but its relation to the inpatient falls is currently underexplored. The aim of this study was to explore the distribution of falls and their extrinsic characteristics amongst a range of different clinics, and to explore the correlation and predictive ability of hospital overcrowding in relation to inpatient falls. (2) Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, registry-based study was conducted using retrospective data from an incidence registry of a hospital organization in Sweden during 2018. The registry provided data regarding the extrinsic factors of inpatient falls, including the clinics’ overcrowdedness. Simple descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and simple linear regression analysis were used. (3) Results: Twelve clinics were included. A total of 870 inpatient falls were registered during 2018. Overcrowdedness and total amount of falls were positively and very strongly correlated (r = 0.875, p < 0.001). Overcrowdedness was a significant predictor of the total amount of inpatient falls ( p < 0.001, α = 0.05). (4) Conclusions: The characteristics regarding inpatient falls vary among the clinics. Inpatient overcrowding might have a significant role in the prevalence of inpatient falls, but further high-evidence-level studies are required.

Keywords: falls; impatient falls; extrinsic factors; organizational factors; hospital overcrowdedness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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