Association between Falls and Balance among Inpatients with Schizophrenia: A Preliminary Prospective Cohort Study

Falls are adverse events affecting psychiatric inpatients that can lead to external injuries, fractures, and death. However, none have attempted to examine fall-related factors, particularly focused on balance, specifically among inpatients with schizophrenia. The present preliminary study aimed to assess the association between falls and balance in patients with schizophrenia. The authors performed baseline assessments of background factors, postural sway, and maximum step length in 120 patients with schizophrenia hospitalized in the psychiatric ward. A prospective 3-month follow-up was conducted, and participants were divided into a fall or non-fall group according to their history of falls during the follow-up. Variance among individual variables was compared between the fall group and non-fall group using the t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and chi-square test. A total of 16 participants experienced falls in the 3-month follow-up period (13.3%). Comparative factor analysis revealed significant differences between the fall and non-fall groups in terms of the presence or absence of falls within 3 months before follow-up (p = 0.002) and Romberg quotients for sway length (p = 0.02). These findings suggest that fall history could be considered a predictor of future falls, which could help with fall prevention, and that assessment of visual contribution to postural control using the Romberg quotient could play an important role in fall prevention.