The Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale: a case-control study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this descriptive study was to assess whether the Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale (HDFS) identifies hospitalized pediatric patients at high risk for falls.


METHODS
The study was a matched case-control design. A chart review of 153 pediatric cases who fell and 153 controls who did not fall were pair-matched by age, gender, and diagnosis.


RESULTS
High-risk patients fell almost twice as often as low-risk patients (odds ratio 1.87, confidence interval = 1.01, 3.53, p = .03).


CONCLUSIONS
A Falls Prevention Pediatric Program with the HDFS tool addresses the Joint Commission Patient Safety Goals, but further research is needed to examine HDFS sensitivity-specificity.
Hill-Rodriguez
Deborah
D
Miami Children's Hospital, Miami, FL, USA.
Messmer
Patricia R
PR
Williams
Phoebe D
PD
Zeller
Richard A
RA
Williams
Arthur R
AR
Wood
Maria
M
Henry
Marianne
M
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002673:Child, Hospitalized / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D018570:Risk Assessment