A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability: highlighting an invisible population

Bronwyn Hemsley; Joanne Steel; Linda Worrall; Sophie Hill; Lucy Bryant; Leanne Johnston; Andrew Georgiou; Susan Balandin

doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2018.11.004

A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability: highlighting an invisible population

Bronwyn Hemsley, Joanne Steel, Linda Worrall, Sophie Hill, Lucy Bryant, Leanne Johnston, Andrew Georgiou, Susan Balandin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Patients with communication disability, associated with impairments of speech, language, or voice, have a three-fold increased risk of adverse events in hospital. However, little research yet examines the causal relationship between communication disability and risk for specific adverse events in hospital. Objective: To examine the impact of a patient's communication disability on their falls risk in hospital. Methods: This systematic review examined 61 studies on falls of adult hospital patients with communication disability, and patients at high risk of communication disability, to determine whether or not communication disability increased risk for falls, and the nature of and reasons for any increased risk. Results: In total, 46 of the included studies (75%) reported on participants with communication disability, and the remainder included patients with health conditions placing them at high risk for communication disability. Two thirds of the studies examining falls risk identified communication disability as contributing to falls. Commonly, patients with communication disability were actively excluded from participation; measures of communication or cognition were not reported; and reasons for any increased risk of falls were not discussed. Conclusions: There is some evidence that communication disability is associated with increased risk of falls. However, the role of communication disability in falls is under-researched, and reasons for the increased risk remain unclear. Practical applications: Including patients with communication disability in falls research is necessary to determine reasons for their increased risk of adverse events in hospital. Their inclusion might be helped by the involvement of speech-language pathologists in falls research teams.

Language	English
Pages	89-105
Number of pages	17
Journal	Journal of Safety Research
Volume	68
DOIs	10.1016/j.jsr.2018.11.004
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2019

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Bibliographical note

Copyright the National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd 2018. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Cite this

Hemsley, B., Steel, J., Worrall, L., Hill, S., Bryant, L., Johnston, L., ... Balandin, S. (2019). A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability: highlighting an invisible population. Journal of Safety Research, 68, 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2018.11.004

Hemsley, Bronwyn ; Steel, Joanne ; Worrall, Linda ; Hill, Sophie ; Bryant, Lucy ; Johnston, Leanne ; Georgiou, Andrew ; Balandin, Susan. / A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability : highlighting an invisible population. In: Journal of Safety Research. 2019 ; Vol. 68. pp. 89-105.

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abstract = "Background: Patients with communication disability, associated with impairments of speech, language, or voice, have a three-fold increased risk of adverse events in hospital. However, little research yet examines the causal relationship between communication disability and risk for specific adverse events in hospital. Objective: To examine the impact of a patient's communication disability on their falls risk in hospital. Methods: This systematic review examined 61 studies on falls of adult hospital patients with communication disability, and patients at high risk of communication disability, to determine whether or not communication disability increased risk for falls, and the nature of and reasons for any increased risk. Results: In total, 46 of the included studies (75{\%}) reported on participants with communication disability, and the remainder included patients with health conditions placing them at high risk for communication disability. Two thirds of the studies examining falls risk identified communication disability as contributing to falls. Commonly, patients with communication disability were actively excluded from participation; measures of communication or cognition were not reported; and reasons for any increased risk of falls were not discussed. Conclusions: There is some evidence that communication disability is associated with increased risk of falls. However, the role of communication disability in falls is under-researched, and reasons for the increased risk remain unclear. Practical applications: Including patients with communication disability in falls research is necessary to determine reasons for their increased risk of adverse events in hospital. Their inclusion might be helped by the involvement of speech-language pathologists in falls research teams.",

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Hemsley, B, Steel, J, Worrall, L, Hill, S, Bryant, L, Johnston, L, Georgiou, A & Balandin, S 2019, 'A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability: highlighting an invisible population' Journal of Safety Research, vol. 68, pp. 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2018.11.004

A systematic review of falls in hospital for patients with communication disability : highlighting an invisible population. / Hemsley, Bronwyn; Steel, Joanne; Worrall, Linda; Hill, Sophie; Bryant, Lucy; Johnston, Leanne; Georgiou, Andrew; Balandin, Susan.

In: Journal of Safety Research, Vol. 68, 01.02.2019, p. 89-105.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

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AU - Hemsley,Bronwyn

AU - Steel,Joanne

AU - Worrall,Linda

AU - Hill,Sophie

AU - Bryant,Lucy

AU - Johnston,Leanne

AU - Georgiou,Andrew

AU - Balandin,Susan

N1 - Copyright the National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd 2018. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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N2 - Background: Patients with communication disability, associated with impairments of speech, language, or voice, have a three-fold increased risk of adverse events in hospital. However, little research yet examines the causal relationship between communication disability and risk for specific adverse events in hospital. Objective: To examine the impact of a patient's communication disability on their falls risk in hospital. Methods: This systematic review examined 61 studies on falls of adult hospital patients with communication disability, and patients at high risk of communication disability, to determine whether or not communication disability increased risk for falls, and the nature of and reasons for any increased risk. Results: In total, 46 of the included studies (75%) reported on participants with communication disability, and the remainder included patients with health conditions placing them at high risk for communication disability. Two thirds of the studies examining falls risk identified communication disability as contributing to falls. Commonly, patients with communication disability were actively excluded from participation; measures of communication or cognition were not reported; and reasons for any increased risk of falls were not discussed. Conclusions: There is some evidence that communication disability is associated with increased risk of falls. However, the role of communication disability in falls is under-researched, and reasons for the increased risk remain unclear. Practical applications: Including patients with communication disability in falls research is necessary to determine reasons for their increased risk of adverse events in hospital. Their inclusion might be helped by the involvement of speech-language pathologists in falls research teams.

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