Fall incidence in hospitalized patients and prediction of its risk factors using a weighted Poisson model

Aim Falls in hospital as a major cause of disability and death threaten patients’ safety and quality of life. We studied fall incidence in hospital, and predicted its risk factors using weighted Poisson (WP) model versus other models. Method This cross-sectional study was performed on the patients referred to two central hospitals in Qazvin, Iran between 2017 and 2019. The data were collected using the Morse scale and fall reporting forms in the hospital patient safety units (288 falls). Factors including age, gender, time of fall, fall location, cause of fall and its complications, drugs administrated, disease history, post-fall care measures, presence of companion, and length of hospital stay were assessed. The WP model was compared with other models. Results Fall incidence was 2.5 per 1000 patient days. Among them, 62.5% were elderly (mean age 65.7 ± 19.21 yr). Using the WP model, age, gender, fall location and fall cause, drugs administered, post-fall care measures ( P