Characteristics of Falls in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit: A Retrospective Study

Department

neurology

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Falls are an important adverse event in an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU). We identified patterns of falls in an EMU and compared them with risk factors for inpatient falls. Twenty-six patients with 26 falls (2.3% of admissions) in the EMU were compared with 50 general neurology inpatients with 56 falls over a 4-year period. In the EMU, the majority (62%) of falls happened during the first 3. days of admission, mostly in the bathroom (74%), in patients with a normal mental status (77%). Most general inpatients fell after the third day (64%), inside their rooms (68%), and had an altered mental status before the fall (68%). All 26 EMU patients were identified as high risk at admission, in spite of which falls were not prevented. We outline these differences between EMU patients and general inpatients and highlight the practice gap in preventing falls in an EMU.

Medical Subject Headings

neurology

Publication Date

2013

Publication Title

Epilepsy and Behavior

ISSN

1525-5050

Volume

29

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

3

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.yebeh.2013.06.013

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