Prospective study of the relationship between patient falls and caregiver burden in home health care: A pilot study

To investigate the relationship between caregiver burden and patient falls, and the incidence of falls in patients receiving home health care.

A prospective cohort study was conducted on patients receiving home health care provided by 3 home-care support clinics and their primary caregivers from November 2015 to February 2016. Cox proportional hazards analysis was performed on the Burden Index of Caregivers (BIC) and the presence of falls.

Of the eligible 114 subjects, 47 were included in the final analysis. Nineteen subjects (40.4%) reported falls in the 3-month observation period. The incidence of falls was 1120 per 1000 person-years. The unadjusted hazard ratios for BIC score, patient gender (female), fall assessment score, and lack of physical barriers within the home were 1.46, 1.39, 0.52, and 0.52, respectively, and differences were not statistically significant. Adjusted hazard ratios were 1.56, 1.44, 0.65, and 0.62, respectively, and were also not statistically significant.

The incidence of falls was found to be roughly 5 times more than that in the general community elderly population. No causal relationship was found between caregiver burden and patient falls.