ArticleEBioMedicine2016
Preoperative Falls Predict Postoperative Falls, Functional Decline, and Surgical Complications.
Article in EBioMedicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Association of physical function with hospital readmissions among older adults: A systematic review.Journal of hospital medicine · 2025Pooled it
- The comparative and added prognostic value of biomarkers to the Revised Cardiac Risk Index for preoperative prediction of major adverse cardiac events and all-cause mortality in patients who undergo noncardiac surgery.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Perioperative Depression and Anxiety Care in Older Patients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Association of a Perioperative Multicomponent Fall Prevention Intervention With Falls and Quality of Life After Elective Inpatient Surgical Procedures.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Perioperative care in older adults: a narrative review.European geriatric medicine · 2026Review
- Short-Term Functional Trajectories After Surgery in Older Adults: National Patterns of Loss and Recovery in 436,471 Patients.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2026Article
- Feeble, fallen, and forgetting: association of cognitive impairment and falls on outcomes of major intra-abdominal surgeries in older adults.Journal of gastrointestinal surgery : official journal of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract · 2024Article
- Article
- Cognitive Training Attenuates Decline in Physical Function Across 10 Years.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- Wearable devices for patient monitoring in the early postoperative period: a literature review.mHealth · 2021Review
- Utility of Frailty Screening Tools in Older Surgical Patients.Annals of geriatric medicine and research · 2020Review
- Electroencephalography-guided anaesthetic administration does not impact postoperative delirium among older adults undergoing major surgery: an independent discussion of the ENGAGES trial.British journal of anaesthesia · 2019Article
- Factors associated with prolonged length of stay for elective hepatobiliary and neurosurgery patients: a retrospective medical record review.BMC health services research · 2018Article
- Changes in quality of life after elective surgery: an observational study comparing two measures.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2017Observational
- A History of Falls Should Be Recorded in All Preoperative Patients.EBioMedicine · 2016Article
- Falls and Fall-Related Injuries in an Evidence-Based Tai Ji Quan Intervention in Rural West Virginia Churches.Topics in geriatric rehabilitationArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFalls are common and linked to morbidity. Our objectives were to characterize postoperative falls, and determine whether preoperative falls independently predicted postoperative falls (primary outcome), functional dependence, quality of life, complications, and readmission.
methodsThis prospective cohort study included 7982 unselected patients undergoing elective surgery. Data were collected from the medical record, a baseline survey, and follow-up surveys approximately 30days and one year after surgery.
resultsFall rates (per 100 person-years) peaked at 175 (hospitalization), declined to 140 (30-day survey), and then to 97 (one-year survey). After controlling for confounders, a history of one, two, and ≥three preoperative falls predicted postoperative falls at 30days (adjusted odds ratios [aOR] 2.3, 3.6, 5.5) and one year (aOR 2.3, 3.4, 6.9). One, two, and ≥three falls predicted functional decline at 30days (aOR 1.2, 2.4, 2.4) and one year (aOR 1.3, 1.5, 3.2), along with in-hospital complications (aOR 1.2, 1.3, 2.0). Fall history predicted adverse outcomes better than commonly-used metrics, but did not predict quality of life deterioration or readmission.
conclusionsFalls are common after surgery, and preoperative falls herald postoperative falls and other adverse outcomes. A history of preoperative falls should be routinely ascertained.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.