Epidemiology of Falls in 25 Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Retrospective Longitudinal Cohort Study Using Routinely Collected Data

BACKGROUND

Falls are frequent among older adults and have significant health and economic consequences. There have been few studies on the epidemiology of falls in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). This study aimed to determine the incidence of falls in RACFs using longitudinal routinely collected incident data over five years (Jul 2014-Dec 2019).

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study using fall incident data from 25 RACFs in Sydney, NSW, Australia. Incidents relating to a population of 6,163 aged care residents aged ≥65 years were included. Outcome measures were incidents of all falls; injurious falls, and requiring hospitalisation. Risk-adjusted incidence rate (IR) for each outcome indicator for each of the 25 facilities was calculated.

RESULTS

A total of 27,878 falls were reported over 3,906,772 resident days (a crude rate of 7.14/1000 resident days; 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.81-7.48). Of these, 10,365 (37.2%) were injurious and 2,733 (9.8%) required hospitalisation. The crude IR for injurious falls was 2.65/1000 resident days (95% CI 2.53-2.78) and 0.70 (95% CI 0.66-0.74) for falls requiring hospitalisation. The incidence of falls was significantly higher in respite compared to permanent residents for all falls (adjusted incident rate ratio (aIRR) 1.33; 95% CI 1.18-1.51) and injurious falls (aIRR 1.30; 95% CI 1.14-1.48) and for men compared to women for all outcomes (all falls aIRR 1.69; 95% CI 1.54-1.86; injurious falls aIRR 1.87; 95% CI 1.71-2.04 and falls requiring hospitalisation aIRR 1.29; 95% CI 1.12-1.48). The risk-adjusted IRs per 1000 resident days between facilities varied substantially (all falls 0.57-12.93 falls; injurious falls 0.25-4.47 and falls requiring hospitalisation 0.10-1.70).

CONCLUSION

Falls are frequent in RACFs, often resulting in injury and hospitalisation. The study provides robust and comprehensive information that may help inform future initiatives to minimise the incidence of falls in RACFs.

Home-based monitoring of falls using wearable sensors in Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION

Falling is among the most serious clinical problems in Parkinson's disease (PD). We used body-worn sensors (falls detector worn as a necklace) to quantify the hazard ratio of falls in PD patients in real life.

METHODS

We matched all 2063 elderly individuals with self-reported PD to 2063 elderly individuals without PD based on age, gender, comorbidity, and living conditions. We analyzed fall events collected at home via a wearable sensor. Fall events were collected either automatically using the wearable falls detector or were registered by a button push on the same device. We extracted fall events from a 2.5-year window, with an average follow-up of 1.1 years. All falls included were confirmed immediately by a subsequent telephone call. The outcomes evaluated were (1) incidence rate of any fall, (2) incidence rate of a new fall after enrollment (ie, hazard ratio), and (3) 1-year cumulative incidence of falling.

RESULTS

The incidence rate of any fall was higher among self-reported PD patients than controls (2.1 vs. 0.7 falls/person, respectively; P < .0001). The incidence rate of a new fall after enrollment (ie, hazard ratio) was 1.8 times higher for self-reported PD patients than controls (95% confidence interval, 1.6-2.0).

CONCLUSION

Having PD nearly doubles the incidence of falling in real life. These findings highlight PD as a prime "falling disease." The results also point to the feasibility of using body-worn sensors to monitor falls in daily life. © 2019 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.