Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor?
Aim: This article is a report of a study of associations between occurrence of serious fall-related injuries and implementation of low-low beds at The Northern Hospital, Victoria, Australia. Background: A 9-year evaluation at The Northern Hospital found an important reduction in fall-related injurie...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Blackwell Publishing Ltd
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34981 |
| _version_ | 1848754371871899648 |
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| author | Barker, A. Kamar, J. Tyndall, T. Hill, Keith |
| author_facet | Barker, A. Kamar, J. Tyndall, T. Hill, Keith |
| author_sort | Barker, A. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Aim: This article is a report of a study of associations between occurrence of serious fall-related injuries and implementation of low-low beds at The Northern Hospital, Victoria, Australia. Background: A 9-year evaluation at The Northern Hospital found an important reduction in fall-related injuries after the 6-PACK falls prevention program was implemented. Low-low beds are a key component of the 6-PACK that aims to decrease fall-related injuries. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Methods: Retrospective audit of The Northern Hospital inpatients admitted between 1999–2009. Changes in serious fall-related injuries throughout the period and associations with available low-low beds were analysed using Poisson regression. Results: During the observation of 356,158 inpatients, there were 3946 falls and 1005 fall-related injuries of which 60 (5.9%) were serious (55 fractures and five subdural haematomas). Serious fall-related injuries declined significantly throughout the period. When there was one low-low bed to nine or more standard beds there was no statistically significant decrease in serious fall-related injuries. An important reduction only occurred when there was one low-low bed to three standard beds. Conclusion: The 6-PACK program has been in place since 2002 at The Northern Hospital. Throughout this time serious fall-related injuries have decreased. There appears to be an association between serious fall-related injuries and the number of available low-low beds. Threshold numbers of these beds may be required to achieve optimal usability and effectiveness. A randomized controlled trial is required to give additional evidence for use of low-low beds for injury prevention in hospitals. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:39:21Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-34981 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:39:21Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Blackwell Publishing Ltd |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-349812017-09-13T15:29:11Z Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? Barker, A. Kamar, J. Tyndall, T. Hill, Keith Aim: This article is a report of a study of associations between occurrence of serious fall-related injuries and implementation of low-low beds at The Northern Hospital, Victoria, Australia. Background: A 9-year evaluation at The Northern Hospital found an important reduction in fall-related injuries after the 6-PACK falls prevention program was implemented. Low-low beds are a key component of the 6-PACK that aims to decrease fall-related injuries. Design: A retrospective cohort study. Methods: Retrospective audit of The Northern Hospital inpatients admitted between 1999–2009. Changes in serious fall-related injuries throughout the period and associations with available low-low beds were analysed using Poisson regression. Results: During the observation of 356,158 inpatients, there were 3946 falls and 1005 fall-related injuries of which 60 (5.9%) were serious (55 fractures and five subdural haematomas). Serious fall-related injuries declined significantly throughout the period. When there was one low-low bed to nine or more standard beds there was no statistically significant decrease in serious fall-related injuries. An important reduction only occurred when there was one low-low bed to three standard beds. Conclusion: The 6-PACK program has been in place since 2002 at The Northern Hospital. Throughout this time serious fall-related injuries have decreased. There appears to be an association between serious fall-related injuries and the number of available low-low beds. Threshold numbers of these beds may be required to achieve optimal usability and effectiveness. A randomized controlled trial is required to give additional evidence for use of low-low beds for injury prevention in hospitals. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34981 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2012.05997.x Blackwell Publishing Ltd restricted |
| spellingShingle | Barker, A. Kamar, J. Tyndall, T. Hill, Keith Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| title | Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| title_full | Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| title_fullStr | Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| title_short | Reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: Are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| title_sort | reducing serious fall-related injuries in acute hospitals: are low-low beds a critical success factor? |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/34981 |