Assessment of risk and incidence of falls in neurosurgical inpatients

Abstract

Neurosurgical patients may present motor, sensitive and balance impairment and increased risk of falling. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fall-related risk factors and the incidence of falls in the pre and post-operative period of neurosurgical patients. A prospective cohort study with a research population of patients undergoing elective neurosurgical procedures. Ninety-seven patients took part in the study. Eight (8.2%) have presented falls with a total of 12 falls (12.4%). In two falls (16.7%), bed side rails were down, whereas in six falls (50%), beds had no rails at all. There was no difference among fall-related risk factors during pre and the post-operative periods. We have concluded that most falls could have been prevented through an improvement in the hospital internal structure and with the introduction of a falls prevention program.