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BACKGROUND During the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, falls have been identified as a potential presenting symptom in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection; however, data on factors increasing fall risk in this patient population are limited. This study aimed to examine the factors that may predispose hospitalized COVID-19 disease patients to falls. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this retrospective observational study, hospitalized COVID-19 disease patients were examined for fall incidence, as well as demographics, comorbidities, and clinical and laboratory data. Patients were stratified according to their fall status and their characteristics were compared using Fisher's exact test or Mann-Whitney U test. A total of 312 hospitalized COVID-19 disease patients were enrolled (median age, 75 years; males, 51.3%), of whom 11 (3.5%) fell. RESULTS There was a greater prevalence of falls among patients who experienced arrhythmias than those that did not (28.6% vs 1.7%; P<0.001). Additionally, a significantly greater proportion of those that were discharged to the internal ward and to the intensive care unit fell (10.3% and 10.0%, respectively) compared to those that were discharged home (1.6%, P=0.008). Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) was significantly elevated in patients who fell (5.3 vs 0.97 µIU/mL, P=0.013), while alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was significantly lower in those who fell (17.1 vs 33.5 IU/L, P=0.041). CONCLUSIONS Arrhythmias may be an important predisposing factor for falls in COVID-19 disease patients and fall prevention programs should prioritize interventions directed at this vulnerable patient population.

Introduction: Although falls occur extremely frequently, they are still one of the least investigated causes of death. According to the World Health Organization, around 37.3 million falls occur globally every year resulting in the deaths of over 660,000 adults and almost 30,000 children., Objective: The aim of this review is to evaluate the most up-to-date and comprehensive knowledge on falls and their consequences, especially in populations at the highest risk of fatal falls., Brief Description of State of Knowledge: Currently, there is a limited amount of literature which analyzes falls. Falls affect all age groups, but their location, cause, and severity vary among different populations. Individuals who are particularly at risk of falling at home include younger children and the elderly. Research indicates that falls are one of the main causes of work-related injuries and deaths, especially those occurring at significant heights. Falls in the home environment are the second most common cause of death in over 33% of accidents and the main cause of injury in 41.2% of accidents. During patient hospitalizations, falls generate additional burdens and costs on the healthcare system., Conclusions: This review elaborated on the nature of falls in different populations and analyzed the influence falls have on the healthcare system, in society, and on the economy. This knowledge is particularly important in an aging society, which will inevitably face increasing problems due to falls in the near future. As the emphasis on falls increases, leaders and lawmakers will be pushed to establish individualized prevention measures, as described in this review, for specific risk groups to effectively prevent falls and their consequences.

Background: Inpatient falls are common hospital adverse events. We aimed to determine inpatient fall rates in an urban public hospital and analyzed their characteristics across clinical departments., Methods: The study was conducted in a 350-bed urban, multi-specialty public hospital in the 2013-2019 period. Patient data were retrieved from the hospital's standardized falls reporting system. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests: chi2 and ANOVA tests with multiple comparison tests (post-hoc analysis) were used. For fall incidence estimation a joint-point regression was applied. p -value of 0.05 was considered as statistically significant for all the calculations., Results: The highest prevalence of falls was reported in the rehabilitation and internal medicine wards (1.915% and 1.181%, respectively), the lowest in the orthopedic (0.145%) and rheumatology wards (0.213%) ( p < 0.001). The vast majority of falls took place in the late evening and during the night (56.711%) and were classified as bed falls (55.858%). The crude incidence rate (cIR) of falls was 6.484 per one thousand hospitalizations. In the 2013-2017 period, an increase in total cIR was observed, reaching the peak value in 2016; it was followed by a slight decline from 2017 to 2019, however, differences in changes were observed between the wards., Conclusion: Fall rates and trends as well as circumstances of inpatient falls varied significantly among clinical departments, probably due to differences in patient characteristics., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Falls are associated with increased morbidity and mortality, rising hospital readmission rates, decreased patient independence, and strained healthcare resources. In aged populations and individuals with multimorbidity, cardiovascular conditions may contribute towards an increased propensity to fall. The prevalence of cardiovascular conditions generally increases with age, and understanding potential fall risk factors may help to minimize the risk of falls and develop preventive interventions. Acting on even one such risk factor or introducing an appropriate intervention may reduce the overall propensity for a patient to fall. Further prevention strategies primed towards cardiovascular ailments should be elucidated and trialed.

BACKGROUND The aim of our study was to investigate the risk factors for falls in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient population in Poland. This would be a major step towards the development of new fall prevention programs. MATERIAL AND METHODS There were 450 RA patients who met the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology who participated in this study. The average age of patient participants was 54.2 years; the average RA duration was 15.1 years. All patients filled out the study questionnaire regarding falls, medications, and diseases, and they filled out the Polish version of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). RESULTS Of the 400 patients, 203 patients (51%) experienced falls. Out of the 268 falls experienced by study patients, 113 falls (42%) were due to an environmental cause, the remainder 155 falls were caused by health conditions. The number of falls positively correlated with HAQ scores (r=0.42, P<0.01) and the duration of RA (r=0.39, P<0.05). For individuals who had fallen 3 or more times, there was a stronger positive correlation between the number of falls and the total HAQ score (r=0.61, P<0.01). The main risk factors for falls in the study group were dizziness (odds ratio [OR]=3.42), the use of hypotensive medication (OR=2.82), foot deformities (OR=4.09), and a high HAQ score (OR=2.59). Other factors such as drug use (e.g., glucocorticoids), pain, and duration of RA were measured using a visual analogue scale, and were found not to have increased the risk for falls and fractures (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Knowledge about risk factors can help identify high-risk patients to help decrease their risk of falling, thus preventing fall-related injuries.