Falls on an inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit … What are the consequences?

Background and objectives Falls research has explored the characteristics of patients with a brain injury who experienced falls and the nature of these falls. However, the characteristics of falls with consequence have not yet been investigated. This study aimed to explore the consequences of patient falls in inpatient brain injury rehabilitation. Method Data were retrospectively analysed from incident reports and patient medical charts. Participants were included who had fallen during brain injury rehabilitation at a metropolitan hospital between January 2017 and December 2021. Falls with a reported consequence including pain, laceration, soft tissue injury, fracture and traumatic brain injury (consequential falls) were compared to falls that did not have a consequence. Significant patient and fall variables for a fall with consequence were explored. Results Over the 5-year study period 855 patients were admitted and 161 patients (64% male) experienced 276 falls. Of the 161 patients, 90 (56%) experienced a consequence from one or more falls, with 119 (43%) of falls having consequences. The odds of a consequential fall increased 1.03 times for each year increase in age. The odds of a consequential fall in autumn, winter, and spring were two to three times higher than in summer and were 3.6 times higher when the fall was unwitnessed by staff. Conclusions More falls with consequence occurred with increasing age and when unwitnessed by staff. This knowledge supports the need for older persons to have additional supervision and assistance during inpatient brain injury rehabilitation to reduce harm from falls.