Risk factors and characteristics of falls among hospitalized adult patients with hematologic diseases

A total of 56 fall events were observed in 43 patients, and the incidence of falls was 2.49 per 1000 person-days. The median hemoglobin, platelet, and serum albumin levels prior to fall events were 8.65 g/dl (range, 6.3-12.7), 38 × 109/l (range, 7-454), and 2.85 g/dl (range, 1.6-4.3), respectively. Despite the presence of thrombocytopenia among the majority of patients who fell, no serious injury was observed. Multiple variable logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age older than 65 years (hazard ratio [HR], 2.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-6.99, P = 0.02), admission for allo-HCT (HR, 9.48; 95% CI, 3.35-26.80, P < 0.001), hypnotic medication (HR, 3.57; 95% CI, 1.56-8.20, P = 0.002), urinary or intravenous catheter placement (HR, 2.34; 95% CI, 1.08-5.09, P = 0.03), and hypoalbuminemia (HR, 2.30; 95% CI, 1.07-4.96, P = 0.03) were significantly associated with increased fall risk. These findings indicated that special attention should be paid to patients with such risk factors during their treatment.