6th Edition of World Nursing Science Conference 2026

Abstract

Background: Falls are an important cause of injury and death in hospitalized patients. Analyzing the multi-factorial risk of falls from past cases to develop multi-factorial intervention programs is clinically significant. However, previous studies have focused on fall risk factors, so evidence of severe injuries from falls is limited.

Objective: To explore the risk factors for serious fall-related injuries.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted from the hospital nursing adverse event reporting system. We included the inpatients who fell during hospitalization in a tertiary A-level hospital from January 2019 to December 2022. General characteristics and clinical characteristics of patients at admission were collected.

Results: A total of 128 patients were included, with 34 having sustained no injury (26.56%), 34 minor injuries (26.56%), 36 patients sustaining moderate injuries (28.13%), and 24 severe injuries (18.75%). Factors that increased the risk of experiencing a fall with serious injury were secondary diagnosis (Odds Ratio, OR 3.056; 95% Confidence Interval, CI 1.114–8.380; p<0.05) and female(OR 2.165; 95% CI 1.006–4.658; p<0.05). On the contrary, pain (OR 0.358; 95% CI 0.161–0.797; p<0.05) was protective.

Conclusions: This study found that secondary diagnoses and females are risk factors for serious fall-related injuries in inpatients in China. There is a need to develop a tailored fall prevention activity plan for patients, especially for whom have a secondary diagnosis on admission.

Keywords: falls; serious injury; inpatients; risk factors