title: [Falling from a height: Psychiatric comorbidity and complications].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether a mental disorder increases the occurrence of complications in patients after 'a fall from a height'.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective descriptive study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on all patients admitted following a 'fall from a height' in the period 2004-2012 was retrieved from the trauma registry of the Academic Medical Center (AMC) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This was combined with data from the National Surgical Complications Registry (LHCR). A chart review was conducted to determine the presence of mental disorders in these patients. Corrected risk ratio for the risk of complications in patients with a psychological disorder was calculated using the Mantel-Haenszel method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 507 patients presented to the emergency department at the AMC following a fall from a height; 147 patients (29%) experienced 1 or more complications and 131 patients (25.8%) had a mental disorder. Complications arose in 60 patients with a mental disorder (45.8%) and in 87 patients (23.1%) without a mental disorder. The corrected risk ratio showed that a mental disorder is a statistically significant independent predictor of complications (risk ratio: 1.58; 95% confidence interval: 1.21-2.06).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The risk of complications following a fall from a height in patients with a mental disorder is one and a half times higher than in patients without a mental disorder. This mental disorder is a significant independent predictor of a medical complication following a fall from a height.
authors: Academisch Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam.
authors: Emile A
authors: EA
authors: Clous
authors: Kees J
authors: KJ
authors: Ponsen
authors: Pieter Boele
authors: PB
authors: van Hensbroek
authors: Jan S K
authors: JS
authors: Luitse
authors: Miranda
authors: M
authors: Olff
authors: J Carel
authors: JC
authors: Goslings
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology*