title: Pediatric falls: effect of prevention measures and characteristics of pediatric wards.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to identify the effect of fall prevention measures and characteristics of wards on the rate of pediatric falls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on study variables were collected using a cross-sectional design and questionnaires of 603 randomized general hospitals in Japan. Among the hospitals that were contacted, 252 (41.8%) returned their questionnaires. The questionnaires included the annual number of falls, whether fall prevention measures were implemented, and characteristics of the wards. Data were analyzed from questionnaires from 162 of the hospitals, which included those that answered the number of falls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pediatric fall rate was 1.36/1000 patient-days. Facilities were more likely to have a lower fall rate if they had a longer "length of stay" (P < 0.001), "shared information in high-risk patients and monitored them carefully" (P < 0.001), had higher totals for the "number of study sessions for novice nurses" (P = 0.01),and "used a pamphlet to educate patients and caregivers regarding appropriate use of side rails" (P < 0.001). Facilities that had a "playroom" (P < 0.001), higher "novice nurse-to-nurse ratio" (P < 0.001), and those at which "caregivers were necessary for hospitalization" (P = 0.04) were more likely to have a higher fall rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study suggest that education of parents and novice nurses on fall prevention is the most effective method of reducing pediatric falls. It is important to implement intensive fall prevention for high-risk patients and develop valid pediatric fall risk assessment tools.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, School of Nursing, Hyogo University of Health Sciences, Kobe.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Mayuko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Chieko
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: accident prevention; accidental falls; child; cross-sectional studies; infant