Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine the ambulatory activity of older patients who had a
documented fall during hospitalization for acute illness. DESIGN: A retrospective
case-control design was used in a pilot study of patients (n=10; >/=65y) who had
a documented fall during their hospital stay and matched controls (n=25) who did
not fall. SETTING: Acute care medical/surgical unit. PARTICIPANTS: Men and women
65 years and older who wore a step activity monitor while hospitalized.
INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Fall incidents during the
hospital stay were documented by the nurse in a standardized patient safety event
report in accordance with hospital policy. The number of steps per 24-hour
interval, time spent walking, and total number of activity episodes were
determined for patients and controls. RESULTS: On average +/- SD, patients who
fell took 480.3 +/- 432.2 steps per hospital day, spent 53.8 +/- 36.9 minutes
walking, and engaged in 25.8 +/- 16.9 episodes of activity. Mean daily steps,
time spent walking, and number of activity episodes for patients who did not fall
were 680.1 +/- 876.0, 50.1 +/- 58.6, and 21.6 +/- 23.8, respectively. Logistic
regression results indicated no association between the fall outcome and mean
daily steps (odds ratio=.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-1.06). CONCLUSIONS:
Ambulatory activity among patients who fell varied widely. Mean daily steps, time
spent walking, and number of episodes of activity were comparable with matched
controls who did not fall. Patient falls were more likely to be associated with
cognitive and hospital environmental factors than actual amount of walking.
CI - Copyright (c) 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS