Fall Risk Factors Among Individuals With Cancer in a Large, Urban, Public Hospital.

Area of Science:

• Oncology Nursing
• Patient Safety
• Healthcare Research

Background:

• Hospitalized cancer patients are at risk for falls, necessitating identification of specific risk factors.
• Understanding these factors is crucial for developing targeted fall prevention strategies in oncology settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify risk factors associated with fall events in hospitalized cancer patients.
• To analyze factors contributing to falls with and without injuries in this population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective case-control analysis of electronic health records.
• Inclusion of 188 adult cancer patients from an inpatient oncology unit.
• Descriptive statistics used to analyze fall events and associated variables.

Main Results:

• Male gender, English language preference, solid tumor diagnosis, metastatic cancer, chemotherapy, psychotropic medication use, and isolation precautions were associated with falls.
• High Morse Fall Scale scores, English preference, and chemotherapy with isolation precautions were highly predictive of falls.

Conclusions:

• Oncology-specific risk factors should be integrated into fall screening and assessment tools.
• Individualized interventions based on identified risk factors can enhance patient safety for hospitalized cancer patients.