Incidence and risk of falls in patients treated for hematologic malignancies in the Intensive Hematology Unit.

OBJECTIVE

to determine the incidence and rate of risk of falls in adult patients treated for hematologic malignancies in the Intensive Hematology Unit of a reference hospital.

METHOD: this is a retrospective observational study. A total of 101 patients were evaluated. The occurrence of falls was obtained from records of the unit and the predictive variables of the Hendrich II model were collected, namely: sex, presence of dizziness or vertigo, mental confusion, elimination problems, depression, use of benzodiazepines, use of anticonvulsants, and the Get up and Go test.

RESULTS

two fall events were reported in 101 patients (incidence of 1.98% over a 1.5-year period). Based on the cut-off point 5 of the Hendrich II Model, 30 patients (29.7%) were at risk of fall at the moment of hospital admission, 41 (40.6%) in the middle of the hospitalization period, and 38 (37.6%) at the moment of hospital discharge.

CONCLUSIONS

patients treated for hematological malignancies presented low incidence and high risk of falls during hospitalization.