The Gender Gap in Inpatient Fall Risk Assessment: Results from a Retrospective Analysis of EHR Data

Falls remain the leading cause of injury in older adults, with substantial clinical, psychological, and economic consequences. While gender-specific differences in fall rates have been widely studied, findings remain inconsistent. Large-scale datasets are required to clarify whether a gender gap exists in inpatient fall outcomes and clinical risk assessments of such. Using an EHR dataset of 898,208 patients from a university hospital (2016-2022), we analyzed the association between gender and outcomes in falls and risk assessment. Our results show that men exhibited a higher incidence of falls even though fall risk was more reliably identified in male patients by the assessment tool. In contrast, women experienced more severe fall-related injuries. Future prediction models should address both gaps by incorporating gender-sensitive predictors.