The risk of falls in patients with cerebrovascular disease

Abstract

Introduction/Aim. Patient falls in hospital conditions are among the most common serious adverse events following a cerebrovascular insult at all stages of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of falls in patients with cerebrovascular disease. Methods. A clinical case-control observational study was conducted in this investigation. The sample consisted of patients who suffered from cerebrovascular diseases and were admitted to the Special Hospital for Cerebrovascular Diseases "Sveti Sava" in Belgrade, in the period from February 3, 2018, to June 28, 2019. The Morse questionnaire was used to assess a fall risk. All statistical calculations were performed using the standard commercial software package SPSS, version 21.0. Results. Most of the subjects with a cerebrovascular insult (505 (90.0%)) had a high risk of falls, i.e. they had the Morse score values ≥ 45. The mean Morse score of the subjects in the study was 67.07 ± 21.08. The risk of falling, according to the Morse score, is the highest among subjects diagnosed with bleeding (95.7%: 96.7%) and left-sided neurological deficit (91.7%:90.8%) in both examined groups. Conclusion. It is of great importance to organizing training programs for patients, healthcare providers, and medical staff to prevent falls in hospital conditions.