Inpatient falls after shoulder arthroplasty

Background Patient falls are one of the most commonly reported safety incidents in hospitals and an important cause of harm. Despite growing interest in postoperative fall prevention, data on the extent and correlates of falls among elective orthopedic inpatients are sparse and confined to lower limb arthroplasty. We evaluated inpatient fall trends after elective shoulder arthroplasty and identified patient and hospital characteristics associated with the occurrence of falls. Methods We used discharge records from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2002-2011). Temporal trends were assessed, and multivariate logistic regression modeling was used to characterize factors associated with inpatient falls. Results The rate of in-hospital falls increased from 0% in 2002 to 1.7% in 2011, despite a downward trend in length of stay ( P