Patient falls in the months leading up to a surgery are common across all age groups, according to a study in Anesthesiology.
The observational study, conducted by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, included 15,000 adults undergoing elective surgery.
Here are six notes:
1. Researchers found 26 percent of study participants fell down in the six months before an elective surgery.
2. More than half of those falls caused injuries.
3. The frequency of falls among middle-aged patients, ages 45 to 64, was the highest — 28 percent of all middle-aged patients.
4. Among patients ages 65 and older, 26 percent of patients fell, with 11 percent falling more than once.
5. Among patients 44 and younger, 24 percent fell.
6. Researchers also noted contributing factors to preoperative patient falls, which include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and incontinence.