Examination of Factors Influencing the Risk of Falls in Hemodialysis Patients: A Cross-sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the risk of falls in hemodialysis patients within the community.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis treatment in the central district of Çanakkale between July 2020 and August 2020. A total of 133 (74.7%) of 178 hemodialysis patients were included in the study. The risk of falls was assessed by the Hendrich II Scale. Sociodemographic variables, anthropometric variables, presence of diabetes mellitus, and biomarker values from the past 3 months were used as independent variables.
RESULTS: Of the 133 participants who had been receiving hemodialysis for a median of 5.0 (2.0–8.0) years, 86 (64.7%) were male and the median age was 63.0 (53.0–69.0) years. Participants had a mean score of 2.1±0.1 on the Hendrich II Scale and 9 (6.8%) were at high risk of falling. There was no association identified between age, gender, educational attainment, marital status, height, weight, presence of diabetes mellitus, smoking status, hemoglobin levels, albumin levels, calcium levels, parathormone levels, grip strength in the dominant hand, triceps skinfold thickness, mid-upper arm circumference, mean arterial blood pressure, and the duration of hemodialysis with the risk of falls in individuals undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (Likelihood ratio test=12.532, p=0.767).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Physicians will not be able to simply determine the fall risk in hemodialysis patients by looking at certain values within the community. Larger and more comprehensive studies are needed to identify the fall risk in hemodialysis patients within the community.