%0 Journal Article
%T INVESTIGATION OF FALLS IN THE ELDERLY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF FALLS
%J -
%D 2018
%X Objective: Evidence-based guidelines describe fall prevention interventions which are among nursing interventions such as practice, training, organization and policy recommendations. The purpose of this retrospective and descriptive study, based on the creation of a source for fall prevention programs to be carried out by nurses, is to investigate the characteristics and consequences of falls in the elderly living outside hospitals and nursing homes. Materials and Methods: The study population comprised the files of all the patients aged 65 years and over who presented to the Emergency Department of a Training and Research Hospital (N: 2271). Taking the inclusion criteria into account, 2075 patient files were investigated. The questionnaire prepared by the researchers based on the literature included questions on the socio-demographic characteristics of the elderly and falls. After the approval of the ethics committee and the permission of the institution where the study was to be conducted were obtained, the epicrises included in the patient files were obtained from the system as Microsoft Office Word files. The SPSS 22.0 (2014) program was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of the participating elderly, 43.4% were in the young-old group and 65.2% were women. It was determined that falls occurred most often in January and May, and least often in the autumn. When the fall diagnostic codes of the elderly who presented to the emergency department were examined, it was noticed that 81.0% were diagnosed as undefined falls, and those admitted to the orthopedics clinic took the first place. Of those admitted to the hospital, 52.4% had injuries and 54.9% had fractures. When injury types were examined in terms of their sociodemographic characteristics, it was determined that advanced injuries were more common in the old-old and women (p <0.05). Conclusion: It is the public health nurses¡¯ responsibility to initiate fall prevention strategies. In this context, it is thought that being aware of fall risk factors will contribute to fall prevention programs developed by nurses
%K d¨¹£¿me
%K hem£¿ire
%K ya£¿l£¿
%U http://dergipark.org.tr/egehemsire/issue/41598/461317