Characteristics of outpatient falls that occurred in hospital

A fall may cause trauma and bone fracture, which can affect ADL and QOL. Therefore, countermeasures to prevent falls are important. There are many reports on falls in hospitalized patients, but few for outpatients. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to report the characteristics of outpatient falls that occurred in hospital over five years to identify factors associated with fall in these patients. From April 2012 to March 2017, we investigated fall cases in outpatients using a hospital database. Fall that led to fracture or a life-threatening injury was defined as an adverse event. A total of 3,758 patients had falls in the hospital, and this included 146 outpatients, giving an incidence of 3.9% (146/3,758). Most falls involved outpatients in their 70s, and most occurred in operating rooms (15%), followed by examination rooms (13%), escalators (10%), and waiting rooms (7%). Falls in neurology patients accounted for 12%, followed by neurosurgery (10%), and ophthalmology (8%). Among all falls, 5% occurred in patients wearing slippers, and 54% and 46% occurred in patients without and with a need for assistance with mobility, respectively. There were 6 adverse events (4%) due to fall in outpatients: 4 femoral neck fractures, 1 teeth injury, and 1 pubic bone fracture. In conclusion, a fall accident occurs most commonly in outpatients suffering from a neurological disease and in ophthalmologic outpatients aged about 70 years old, and is likely to occur in the operating room, examination room, escalator and waiting room. Our findings suggest that countermeasures for each location are necessary.