The relationship of urinary tract infections and falls in a nursing home.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between urinary tract infections and falls in a nursing home population. The incidence of falls in nursing homes is prevalent with the current data suggesting that each nursing home resident falls 1.6 times per year. The consequences of a fall can be devastating to the quality of life of the nursing home resident. Therefore, this study was designed to identify falls as the symptom of a urinary tract infection and to provide treatment. Over 75 patients in a 138 bed community nursing home were followed for 6 months. Data suggests that majority of those residents who had a history of a fall also had a UTI In addition; the study data shows that severely demented patients who fall have a higher probability of having a urinary tract infection.