Resumen

ROMAO, Ana Lúcia  y  NUNES, Susana. Falls in Hospital Stays - Causes, Consequences and Costs: Case Study in a Lisbon Hospital Unit. Port J Public Health [online]. 2018, vol.36, n.1, pp.1-8. ISSN 2504-3137.  https://doi.org/10.1159/000488073.

Health expenditure in Portugal increased significantly in recent decades, despite an effort to cut costs since 2009. Patient falls are frequent episodes throughout the period of stay in any hospital, which can lead to injuries, longer hospitalizations, delays in rehabilitation, and increased costs to the service. This research aims to analyze causes, consequences, and costs of reported fall events which led to injuries in a public Lisbon hospital. The study is based on a predictive, transversal and cross-sectional approach, through a retrospective analysis of 153 fall incident reports that led to injuries during the year of 2013. The vast majority of patients were between 71 and 85 years old, with an average of 72 years of age. The main reason that led them to fall was autonomous motion to relieve themselves (47.7%), likely caused by patient’s health condition (67.3%), with a higher incidence of bruises and hematomas (both 28.1%). Cases of falls with moderate and severe levels of injury are those that lead to higher average costs, whereas serious orthopedic injuries lead to higher costs for the hospital.

Palabras clave : Healthcare economics; Healthcare quality; Patient falls during hospitalization; Hospital costs.

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