ArticlesThe incidence and consequences of falls in stroke patients during inpatient rehabilitation: Factors associated with high risk☆,☆☆,★,★★,♢
Section snippets
Methods
The study sample consisted of 238 patients who were were consecutively admitted to the rehabilitation unit at St. Joseph's Health Centre, London, Ont, Canada, from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 1996, after an acute hemorraghic or ischemic stroke. The diagnosis of stroke was confirmed by neurologic examination while patients were on the acute medical service, as well as by computed tomography scan or magnetic resonance imaging study. Patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit were considered
Results
The demographics of the study population are presented in table 1. A total of 180 falls were reported over the study period. Eighty-eight patients (37%) experienced at least 1 fall. Of these, 45 had only 1 fall, 25 had 2 falls, 9 had 3 falls, and 9 had 4 or more falls (fig 1).Patients fell most frequently from their wheelchairs and beds, which accounted for 33% and 25% of all falls, respectively. Injuries
Discussion
Falls, a common problem among stroke rehabilitation patients, were prevalent in this study sample. Over one third of the patients suffered at least 1 fall and almost 1 in 5 suffered 2 or more falls during their hospitalization. Gresham et al43 noted that most falls experienced by stroke patients occurred during their stay in rehabilitation hospitals. This increased fall rate was thought to be associated with the increased mobility associated with rehabilitation.
Our study's fall rate of 180 in
Conclusions
Stroke rehabilitation patients are at high risk of falling. One third of them on the rehabilitation unit sustained at least 1 fall. However, the incidence of a serious injury caused by a fall was very small. All measures of functional impairment including 3 components of the CM scores, the BBS scores, and the FIM were significantly lower when fallers and nonfallers were compared. Additionally, fallers were more frequently documented as apraxic and demonstrated cognitive deficits when compared
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2021, Journal of Bodywork and Movement TherapiesCitation Excerpt :Fall events are common in community-dwelling individuals with stroke and approximately 30% of them report falls at the chronic post-stroke stages (Schmid et al., 2013; Belgen et al., 2006). At the same time, the incidence of serious fall-related injuries was found to be low (Teasel et al., 2002). However, the awareness of fall consequences and fall-related psychological, environmental, physical, or social barriers, could result in restricted participation (Walsh et al., 2017).
ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FEAR OF FALLING AND FALLS FOLLOWING ACUTE AND CHRONIC STROKE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW WITH META-ANALYSIS
2024, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
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Supported by the University of Western Ontario Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Research Fund.
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No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
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Reprint requests to Robert Teasell, MD, 339 Windermere Rd, London, Ont N6A 5A5, Canada, e-mail: [email protected].
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