Incidence of falls in a cohort of critical adults: a cause for concerns?

Incidencia de caídas en una cohorte de adultos críticos: ¿motivo de preocupación?

ABSTRACT

Objective:

To describe the incidence and to report the cases of falls in a cohort of critical adults.

Method:

A prospective cohort study, conducted in 2018 at an adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the south of Brazil. The patients were followed up from admission to discharge; observations were made in the morning and afternoon. The clinical and care variables were evaluated. The descriptive analysis was performed followed by the reporting of the cases.

Results:

551 patients were monitored during 6 [3-12.7] days of hospitalization, generating 7,839 observations. There were four cases of falls, with an incidence rate of 5.1/10.000 observations/day - confidence interval of 99% [0.9 to 16] and density of incidence of 7/10.000 observations/day - confidence interval of 99% [1.2 to 22]. No serious harms were observed.

Conclusion:

Falls occur less in the ICU, which can be explained by the use of safe care practices.

Keywords:
Accidental falls; Critical care; Intensive care units; Patient safety; Accidents