Efficacy of standard operating procedures for fall protection in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia

Fall-related injury is the most common cause of functional disability and mortality in the older population. Falls in patients with schizophrenia are one of the major concerns in psychiatric hospitals. This study aimed to examine the impact of standardized operating procedures (SOP) on falls in veterans with schizophrenia. Veterans with schizophrenia were allocated to the control group (n = 345) and to the fall protection standardized operating procedures (FP-SOP) group (n = 342). Patients in the control group were given routine nursing for falls, and patients in the FP-SOP group were intervened with FP-SOP plus routine nursing. All patients were observed for one year. The study methods comply with the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. We found a fall rate of 1.5% in the FP-SOP group and 4.6% in the control group, with a significant difference in the fall rate between the two groups. In addition, the difference in patient satisfaction between the two groups was statistically significant. Our findings suggest that FP-SOP is an effective strategy for fall prevention in psychiatric hospitals.