Geriatric portrait of patient with falls

Abstract

Aim. To assess the geriatric and somatic status of older patients with falls.Materials and methods. The study included 655 patients (81% of them women) with the age of 75.1±8.2 years hospitalized in geriatric departments. Depending on whether they experienced falls, the patients were divided into two groups: group 1 (332 people, 50.7%) consisting of patients who experienced at least one fall in the current year and group 2 (323 people, 49.3%) consisting of patients who did not experience any falls. The patients underwent general clinical tests and comprehensive geriatric assessment.Results. Half of the hospitalized patients over the age of 60 experienced falls, and among patients without a fall experience 50.8% had a high risk of falls. As a result of falls 246 (74.1%) patients suffered from bruises and abrasions of soft tissues, 36 (10.8%) patients had fractures of various localizations, 6 (1.8%) patients had traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients of both groups were diagnosed with an average of 5 diseases while there were no differences in the nosological structure among patients of both groups. As a result of the performed comprehensive geriatric assessment patients with falls were significantly more often diagnosed with frailty, dementia, depression, visual impairment, gait and balance disorders as well as orthostatic reactions.