In-Hospital Fall and Fracture Risk With Conditions in the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index: An Analysis of State Inpatient Data.

Abstract

In-hospital falls (IHFs) are a significant burden to the healthcare industry and patients seeking inpatient care. Many falls lead to injuries that could be considered a hospital-acquired condition (HAC). We demonstrated how administrative data can be used to quantify how many IHFs occur and identify what conditions increase the risk for these falls. Iowa State Inpatient Database records from 2008 to 2014 for adults older than 50 years were used to quantify IHFs, falls resulting in an HAC (HAC IHFs), and fractures during in-hospital treatment. The medical conditions used in the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index were evaluated for the risk of the separate fall-related outcomes using Poisson regression. There were 1770 records that had an IHF for an IHF rate of 0.26 per 1000 patient days. Psychoses (rate ratio = 1.95, 95% confidence interval = 1.63-2.34) and alcohol abuse (rate ratio = 1.77, 95% confidence interval = 1.40-2.24) showed the greatest increase in IHF risk. These conditions also increased the risk of HAC IHFs and in-hospital fractures. Fluid and electrolyte disorders, deficiency anemias, and chronic pulmonary disease increased the risk for IHFs/HAC IHFs but did not increase the risk of in-hospital fractures. Administrative data can be used to track various fall-related outcomes occurring during inpatient treatment. Several conditions of the Elixhauser Comorbidity Index were identified as increasing the risk of fall-related outcomes and should be considered when evaluating a patient's risk of falling.