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Updated: Jan 4, 2026
Design and Analysis for Fall Detection System Simplification
Published on: April 6, 2020
Analysis of Falls within Paediatric Hospital and Community Healthcare Settings
Caitlin Parker1, Jasmine Kellaway2, Kellie Stockton3
1School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), The University of Queensland, Australia.
Insights
Paediatric falls in healthcare settings are most common in young children (0-2 years) and males. Falls from bed are frequent, highlighting the need for improved bed safety education and risk assessment tools.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare safety research
- Paediatric injury prevention
- Clinical incident analysis
Background:
- Falls represent a significant safety concern in pediatric healthcare.
- Understanding fall characteristics is crucial for developing effective prevention strategies.
- Existing literature on pediatric falls in healthcare settings requires comprehensive summarization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize pediatric falls within various healthcare settings.
- To analyze the incidence and mechanisms of falls in children aged 0-18 years.
- To inform the development of evidence-based fall prevention tools.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of fall events from January 2015 to December 2017.
- Data sourced from the Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CHQ-HHS) Clinical Incident Database and Electronic Medical Record.
- Statistical analysis using Chi-squared tests to assess relationships between variables.
Main Results:
- A total of 385 fall events were analyzed.
- Children aged 0-2 years experienced the highest fall frequency (46.75%).
- Falls from bed (30.65%) were the most common mechanism, particularly in inpatient and emergency settings.
Conclusions:
- The study provides a detailed overview of pediatric fall characteristics in CHQ-HHS.
- Findings underscore the importance of focusing risk assessments on bed safety and caregiver education.
- Developed an integrated, evidence-based fall risk assessment tool and management plan for pediatric settings.
Purpose:
To identify characteristics of paediatric falls within a healthcare setting.
Design And Methods:
A retrospective analysis of falls occurring within inpatient, outpatient, emergency and community healthcare settings of children aged 0-<18 years was conducted using data from the Children's Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service (CHQ-HHS) Clinical Incident Database and Electronic Medical Record between January 1st 2015 and December 31st 2017. One-sample and two-sample Chi-squared tests with post-hoc tests were performed to assess relationships between categorical variables.
Results:
The final dataset contained 385 fall events. Children 0-2 years fell most frequently (46.75%) and falls were higher in males (55.58%). Falls from bed were the most common mechanism (30.65%). The incidence rate of inpatient falls was 0.53 falls per 1000 bed days in the tertiary hospital setting and 1.2% of presentations to inpatient community health facilities. Falls from bed were most common in the tertiary hospital inpatient setting (39.84%, p < .001) and the emergency department (72.13%, p < .001). Falls from furniture/equipment constituted 26.04% of outpatient falls. Most falls occurred in the presence of parents/caregivers (79.48%) and 4.66% of fallers sustained multiple falls.
Conclusions:
This study provides a comprehensive review of the characteristics of fall events in CHQ-HHS over a three-year period and summarises the existing literature in paediatric fall prevention.
Practice Implications:
Risk assessment and management plans should focus on education, particularly surrounding bed safety. Our findings have informed the development of an integrated evidence-based paediatric-specific fall risk assessment tool and management plan to prevent falls in hospital and community healthcare settings.
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