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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1519555
This article is part of the Research Topic Multifactorial balance assessment, falls prevention and rehabilitation View all 6 articles
Falls in a Single Brain Rehabilitation Center: A 3-Year Retrospective Chart Review
Provisionally accepted- 1 Yeungnam University Medical Center, Daegu, North Gyeongsang, Republic of Korea
- 2 College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea
Objective: Falls in brain rehabilitation centers can negatively impact patient recovery, increase injury risk, and adversely affect rehabilitation outcomes. This study aimed to analyze the incidence of falls and identify associated risk factors among patients with brain lesions in a tertiary hospital's brain rehabilitation center from June 2021 to May 2024.Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to examine patient characteristics, fall-related risk factors, functional assessments, and circumstances surrounding falls.Results: Among 316 patients, 10 (3.2%) experienced falls, with a mean age of 61.3 ± 11.9 years. Most patients demonstrated walking and cognitive impairments. Seven falls (70%) occurred during attempts to get out of bed, with five of these incidents occurring at night. Falls were observed despite the presence of caregivers and bed rails. Additionally, all 10 patients were administered medications that may increase fall risk, such as somnifacients or tranquilizers. The occurrence of falls appeared to be associated with multiple factors, including physical limitations (e.g., impaired mobility, visual disturbances, and medication side effects), environmental conditions (e.g., inadequate lighting and medical staff shortages), and behavioral aspects (e.g., unassisted movement).To mitigate fall risk, a comprehensive approach that includes improved nighttime lighting, education on assistive device use and medication management, caregiver training, and personalized rehabilitation programs may be beneficial.
Keywords: fall, Brain lesion, Stroke, brain tumor, risk factor
Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Choo, Moon, Lee, Park and Chang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Min Cheol Chang, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Republic of Korea
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