A comparison study of patient falls in a psychiatric setting

Prevalence of falls in adult and older adult psychiatric patients in China: A systematic review and comprehensive meta-analysis of observational studies

Falls have significant health consequences and are common in psychiatric patients. Findings on the prevalence of falls in Chinese adult and older adult psychiatric inpatients have been inconsistent. This meta-analysis examined the pooled prevalence of falls in adult and older adult psychiatric inpatients in China. Both English (PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library) and Chinese (China National Knowledge Interne, WanFang Data and SinoMed) databases were searched independently by three reviewers. The pooled prevalence of falls and its 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using the random effects model were calculated. A total of 39 studies covering 204,234 inpatients were analyzed. The pooled prevalence of falls in adult and older adult (≥60 years) patients was 3% (95% CI: 1.8%-5%) and 7.3% (95%CI: 5.0%-10.6%), respectively. Subgroup analyses revealed that the prevalence of falls was significantly associated with the psychiatric diagnostic criteria and study sample size. This meta-analysis found that the prevalence of falls among adult and older adult psychiatric patients in China was significantly high, although less than that was reported from Western psychiatric inpatient settings.

Fall Incidence in a State Psychiatric Hospital in Singapore

The results of a retrospective study of fall incidence during a 1-year period in a psychiatric hospital in Singapore are reported, involving 309 patients who fell one or more times during their stay. The profile of inpatients involved in falls was identified. Data were derived from standard incident forms completed whenever patients had a fall. A total of 348 falls were identified for the 1-year period. Results revealed higher fall rates in younger male epileptic patients; elderly female patients, age 70 and older with depression or dementia; individuals with concomitant medical conditions; and patients taking three types of medication. The majority of falls occurred when the activity level was high in the ward. Young epileptic patients and elderly depressed patients were prone to repeated falls. These results have the potential to assist in identifying patients at high risk and in designing and implementing strategies to prevent such incidents.