OBJECTIVE: To examine the change in fall rates after relocation of nursing home residents from one facility to another and to identify resident risk factors for changes in falls following relocation. DESIGN: Retrospective review of incident reports to identify falls, followed by chart review of a longitudinal cohort. SETTING: An academic nursing home whose residents and programs moved from a 125-year-old, 233-bed facility to a newly constructed 255-bed facility. PATIENTS: A total of 210 nursing home residents were moved from one facility to the other. Of these, 133 individuals who lived in the old facility for 9 months before the move and in the new facility for 6 months after the move formed the longitudinal cohort. RESULTS: In the 3 months after the move, the fall rate increased from 0.34 to 0.70 falls per resident per quarter in the entire nursing home population (P < .001) and subsequently returned to baseline. In the longitudinal subgroup the fall rate went from 0.26 to 0.60 (P < .005). Fall-related injuries in the longitudinal subgroup went from 0.058 injuries per resident per quarter at baseline to 0.15 (P < .001). However, the injury rate per fall did not change. There were no characteristics associated with being a faller in the quarter before the move. Dementia and not being bedbound were associated with being a faller after the move. Individuals who were ambulatory or wheelchair mobile had a significant risk of increasing the number of falls after the move, and individuals with dementia had a strong but insignificant trend in this direction. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of falling doubled after relocation of nursing home residents to a new facility. An increase in falls was seen in individuals who were not bedbound. Although nursing home relocation may be a relatively uncommon occurrence, it is reasonable to infer that older individuals who change their living environments are at increased risk for falls and fall-related injuries.
OBJECTIVE: To examine the change in fall rates after relocation of nursing home residents from one facility to another and to identify resident risk factors for changes in falls following relocation. DESIGN: Retrospective review of incident reports to identify falls, followed by chart review of a longitudinal cohort. SETTING: An academic nursing home whose residents and programs moved from a 125-year-old, 233-bed facility to a newly constructed 255-bed facility. PATIENTS: A total of 210 nursing home residents were moved from one facility to the other. Of these, 133 individuals who lived in the old facility for 9 months before the move and in the new facility for 6 months after the move formed the longitudinal cohort. RESULTS: In the 3 months after the move, the fall rate increased from 0.34 to 0.70 falls per resident per quarter in the entire nursing home population (P < .001) and subsequently returned to baseline. In the longitudinal subgroup the fall rate went from 0.26 to 0.60 (P < .005). Fall-related injuries in the longitudinal subgroup went from 0.058 injuries per resident per quarter at baseline to 0.15 (P < .001). However, the injury rate per fall did not change. There were no characteristics associated with being a faller in the quarter before the move. Dementia and not being bedbound were associated with being a faller after the move. Individuals who were ambulatory or wheelchair mobile had a significant risk of increasing the number of falls after the move, and individuals with dementia had a strong but insignificant trend in this direction. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of falling doubled after relocation of nursing home residents to a new facility. An increase in falls was seen in individuals who were not bedbound. Although nursing home relocation may be a relatively uncommon occurrence, it is reasonable to infer that older individuals who change their living environments are at increased risk for falls and fall-related injuries.
Authors: Kenneth S Boockvar; Ann Litke; Joan D Penrod; Ethan A Halm; R Sean Morrison; Stacey B Silberzweig; Jay Magaziner; Kenneth Koval; Albert L Siu Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2004-11 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: K Rapp; S E Lamb; J Klenk; A Kleiner; S Heinrich; H-H König; T Nikolaus; C Becker Journal: Osteoporos Int Date: 2009-02-24 Impact factor: 4.507
Authors: Orna Intrator; Mark Schleinitz; David C Grabowski; Jacqueline Zinn; Vincent Mor Journal: Health Serv Res Date: 2008-09-08 Impact factor: 3.402