Falling short: examination of the validity of methods used to identify paediatric hospital falls in NSW, Australia.

Feuerlicht, D; Agaliotis, M; Hinchcliff, R

Falling short: examination of the validity of methods used to identify paediatric hospital falls in NSW, Australia.

Feuerlicht, D Agaliotis, M Hinchcliff, R

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Publisher:: The Sax Institute
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Public health research & practice, 2020, 30, (1)
Issue Date:: 2020-03-10

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Feuerlicht, D
dc.contributor.author	Agaliotis, M
dc.contributor.author	Hinchcliff, R https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9920-4211
dc.date.accessioned	2020-11-24T01:21:16Z
dc.date.available	2020-11-24T01:21:16Z
dc.date.issued	2020-03-10
dc.identifier.citation	Public health research & practice, 2020, 30, (1)
dc.identifier.issn	2204-2091
dc.identifier.issn	2204-2091
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/144283
dc.description.abstract	OBJECTIVE:Hospital falls are a major cause of costly harm. This descriptive epidemiological study reports the results of a data linkage and medical record review to examine the relative utility of these methods for identifying paediatric in-hospital falls. Type of program or service: The study was conducted across two tertiary and quaternary specialist paediatric hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. METHODS:A retrospective audit was conducted of paediatric falls occurring in hospital between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016. Falls were identified using two systems: the Incident Information Management System (IIMS) and medical records coded data (MRCD). These data were linked, and falls were verified using medical record review. RESULTS:Of the 146 in-hospital falls identified, only 28 (19%percnt;) were included in both systems. The IIMS identified 137 falls, with five excluded. The MRCD identified 63 admissions in which falls occurred, with 27 excluded, and screening of clinical notes found 42 falls in the remaining 36 admissions. LESSONS LEARNT:There was a discrepancy in the number of falls identified in the two administrative datasets due to different inclusion criteria. The medical record review provided additional practice-relevant information that was unavailable within the two datasets. This descriptive epidemiological study highlights the value of combining data linkage with medical record review, but also the need for more critical reflection on the methods used to collect and report falls data in Australian hospitals, so that comprehensive and accurate data can be used to inform quality and safety interventions. This analysis will inform improvements to data capture methods and provide data to advise paediatric falls prevention strategies within the NSW paediatric hospital context.
dc.format	Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	The Sax Institute
dc.relation.ispartof	Public health research & practice
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.17061/phrp29121907
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	© 2019 Feuerlicht et al. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence, which allows others to redistribute, adapt and share this work non-commercially provided they attribute the work and any adapted version of it is distributed under the same Creative Commons licence terms.
dc.subject	1117 Public Health and Health Services
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitalization
dc.subject.mesh	Retrospective Studies
dc.subject.mesh	Accidental Falls
dc.subject.mesh	Information Storage and Retrieval
dc.subject.mesh	Adolescent
dc.subject.mesh	Child
dc.subject.mesh	Child, Preschool
dc.subject.mesh	Infant
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitals, Pediatric
dc.subject.mesh	New South Wales
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Male
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitalization
dc.subject.mesh	Retrospective Studies
dc.subject.mesh	Accidental Falls
dc.subject.mesh	Information Storage and Retrieval
dc.subject.mesh	Adolescent
dc.subject.mesh	Child
dc.subject.mesh	Child, Preschool
dc.subject.mesh	Infant
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitals, Pediatric
dc.subject.mesh	New South Wales
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Male
dc.subject.mesh	Accidental Falls
dc.subject.mesh	Adolescent
dc.subject.mesh	Child
dc.subject.mesh	Child, Preschool
dc.subject.mesh	Female
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitalization
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitals, Pediatric
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Infant
dc.subject.mesh	Information Storage and Retrieval
dc.subject.mesh	Male
dc.subject.mesh	New South Wales
dc.subject.mesh	Retrospective Studies
dc.title	Falling short: examination of the validity of methods used to identify paediatric hospital falls in NSW, Australia.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	30
utslib.location.activity	Australia
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2020-11-24T01:21:10Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	30
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE:Hospital falls are a major cause of costly harm. This descriptive epidemiological study reports the results of a data linkage and medical record review to examine the relative utility of these methods for identifying paediatric in-hospital falls. Type of program or service: The study was conducted across two tertiary and quaternary specialist paediatric hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. METHODS:A retrospective audit was conducted of paediatric falls occurring in hospital between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2016. Falls were identified using two systems: the Incident Information Management System (IIMS) and medical records coded data (MRCD). These data were linked, and falls were verified using medical record review. RESULTS:Of the 146 in-hospital falls identified, only 28 (19%percnt;) were included in both systems. The IIMS identified 137 falls, with five excluded. The MRCD identified 63 admissions in which falls occurred, with 27 excluded, and screening of clinical notes found 42 falls in the remaining 36 admissions. LESSONS LEARNT:There was a discrepancy in the number of falls identified in the two administrative datasets due to different inclusion criteria. The medical record review provided additional practice-relevant information that was unavailable within the two datasets. This descriptive epidemiological study highlights the value of combining data linkage with medical record review, but also the need for more critical reflection on the methods used to collect and report falls data in Australian hospitals, so that comprehensive and accurate data can be used to inform quality and safety interventions. This analysis will inform improvements to data capture methods and provide data to advise paediatric falls prevention strategies within the NSW paediatric hospital context.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/144283