TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Ground-level falls at skilled nursing facilities are associated with more serious lower extremity injuries compared with home
JO  - International journal of lower extremity wounds
A1  - Hasjim, Bima J.
A1  - Grigorian, Areg
A1  - Kuza, Catherine M.
A1  - Schubl, Sebastian
A1  - Barrios, Cristobal
A1  - Chin, Theresa L.
A1  - Nahmias, Jeffry
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Ground-level falls (GLFs) are the number one cause of injury and death in the older adult population. We compared injury profiles of GLFs at SNFs to those at homes, hypothesizing that GLFs at SNFs would lead to higher risks for serious (AIS ≥ 3) traumatic brain injury (TBI) and lower extremity (LE) injuries compared to GLFs at home. The 2015-2016 Trauma Quality Improvement Program was used to compare patients sustaining GLFs at home and SNFs. From 15,873 patients sustaining GLFs, 14,306 (90.1%) occurred at home while 1,567 (9.9%) at SNFs. More patients with GLFs at SNFs were female, older, and had greater incidence of congestive heart failure, end-stage renal disease, and dementia (<i>p</i> < 0.001) compared to those at home. Although, GLF SNF patients had lower injury severity scores (9 vs. 10, <i>p</i> < 0.001) and incidence for TBI (28.0% vs 33.4%, <i>p</i> < 0.001), they had a higher rate of femur fractures (55.1% vs. 38.9%, <i>p</i> < 0.001). After controlling for female, end stage renal disease, smoking, dementia, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, and stroke, patients falling at SNFs had an increased risk of sustaining serious LE injury AIS (OR 1.64, <i>p</i> < 0.001), but not serious TBI AIS (OR 0.89, <i>p</i> = 0.073). In conclusion, compared to GLFs at home, those at SNFs have a higher risk for serious LE injury, with femur fractures being the most common. However, GLFs at SNFs and homes had no significant difference in risk for serious TBI. Future studies are warranted to evaluate preventative measures to reduce LE injuries at SNFs.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1534-7346
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1534734619870393
ID  - ref1
ER  -