@article{ref1,
title="Serious fall injury history and adverse health outcomes after initiating hemodialysis among older U.S. adults",
journal="Journals of gerontology. Series A: Biological sciences and medical sciences",
year="2018",
author="Bowling, C. Barrett and Hall, Rasheeda and Khakharia, Anjali and Franch, Harold A. and Plantinga, Laura C.",
volume="73",
number="9",
pages="1216-1221",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Although older adults with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at higher risk for falls, the prognostic significance of a serious fall injury prior to dialysis initiation has not been well described in the end-stage renal disease population. <br><br>METHODS: We examined the association between a serious fall injury in the year prior to starting hemodialysis and adverse health outcomes in the year following dialysis initiation using a retrospective cohort study of U.S. Medicare beneficiaries ≥ 67 years old who initiated dialysis in 2010-2012. Serious fall injuries were defined using diagnostic codes for falls plus an injury (fracture, joint dislocation, or head injury). Health outcomes, defined as time-to-event variables within the first year of dialysis, included four outcomes: a subsequent serious fall injury, hospital admission, post-acute skilled nursing facility (SNF) utilization, and mortality. <br><br>RESULTS: Among this cohort of 81,653 initiating hemodialysis, 2,958 (3.6%) patients had a serious fall injury in the year prior to hemodialysis initiation. In the first year of dialysis, 7.6% had a subsequent serious fall injury, 67.6% a hospitalization, 30.7% a SNF claim and 26.1% died. Those with vs. without a serious fall injury in the year prior to hemodialysis initiation were at higher risk (hazard ratio, 95% confidence interval) for a subsequent serious fall injury (2.65, 2.41-2.91), hospitalization (1.11, 1.06-1.16), SNF claim (1.40, 1.30-1.50), and death (1.14, 1.06-1.22). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: For older adults initiating dialysis, a history of a serious fall injury may provide prognostic information to support decision-making and establish expectations for life after dialysis initiation.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1079-5006",
doi="10.1093/gerona/glx260",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glx260"
}