Falls in hospitalized children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric patient safety
• Clinical risk assessment tools
• Hospital-acquired conditions

Background:

• Hospitalized children face unique risks for falls.
• Validated adult fall risk scales are often applied to pediatric populations.
• The efficacy of these scales in children requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of two adult fall risk scales in identifying risk factors for falls in hospitalized children.
• To determine predictors of falls in a pediatric inpatient setting.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective chart review was conducted.
• Pediatric fall patients were matched with non-fall patients by age and hospitalization year.
• The Morse Fall Scale and Hendrich II Fall Risk Model were applied to assess risk factors.

Main Results:

• The Morse Fall Scale showed a significant difference between fallers and non-fallers.
• However, the scale's performance metrics (sensitivity, specificity, false positive rate) indicated it performed little better than chance.
• The scale may inaccurately flag non-fallers as high risk.

Conclusions:

• Episodes of disorientation and a history of falls were the strongest predictors of falls in the studied pediatric population.
• Current adult fall risk scales may have limited utility in accurately assessing fall risk in hospitalized children.