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Falls Among Institutionalized Elderly—A Prospective Study in Four Institutions in Finland
Author(s) -
Nurmi a,
Sihvonen Marja,
Kataja Matti,
Lüthje Peter
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of caring sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1471-6712
pISSN - 0283-9318
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-6712.1996.tb00339.x
Subject(s) - medicine , demography , incidence (geometry) , ambulatory , prospective cohort study , gerontology , injury prevention , poison control , medical emergency , surgery , physics , sociology , optics
We analyzed prospectively the incidence, the intrinsic and extrinsic factors and the consequences of falls during a 7‐month period in 4 institutions in Finland in 1993. A total of 370 falls among 160 patients were recorded. Of the fallers 56% fell once and 44% more than once (range 2–24). The mean fall rate in men was higher than that in women (p < 0.01). Fallen men were younger but less ambulatory than women. Of the falls 95% occurred without eyewitnesses and 27% during the night shift; 30% (114/370) resulted in an injury and 7% (11/160) of the fallers suffered a fracture.