Orthostatic Hypotension and Falls in Hospitalized Older Adults

Kathleen Schell, Denise Lyons and Barry Bodt

Clinical Nursing Research, 2021, vol. 30, issue 5, 699-706

Abstract: The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the prevalence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) among a convenience sample of older adults on two Acute Care of the Elderly (ACE) units of the ChristianaCare™ in Delaware. Another aim was to determine if subjects with documented OH experienced falls. Retrospective de-identified data was obtained from electronic medical records for the years 2015 to 2018. Among all patients who had valid first orthostatic vital sign (OVS) readings ( n  = 7,745), 39.2% had orthostatic hypotension on the first reading. Among the patients, 42.8% were found to be hypotensive during OVS. Thirty-one (0.9%) of those with OH fell at some point during their stay. The odds ratio for falls in the presence of OH was 1.34 with a 95% confidence interval (0.82, 2.21), but a chi-square test failed to find significance ( p  = .2494). The results could not determine if OVS should be mandatory in fall prevention protocols.

Keywords: orthostatic hypotension; fall prevalence; inpatient; older adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:clnure:v:30:y:2021:i:5:p:699-706

DOI: 10.1177/1054773820986682

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