Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the fall frequency and some of its characteristics in hospitalized acute stroke patients. Patients and methods: It was analyzed 1809 acute stroke patients hospitalized at the Department of Neurology in period of one year. A fall was defined as any unplanned «touch to the floor» of any part of a patient’s body, excluding the feet. Results: Out of 1809 acute stroke patients, 1544 (85.35%) had cerebral infarction (CI) and 265 (14.65%) intracerebral hemorrhage (IH). In group of patients that fell (61/3.3%), 49 (80.33%) had infarction and 12 (19.67%)(p=0.25) had hemorrhage. Out of 61 patients that fell, 42 (68.86%) suffered from impaired spatial orientation and 47 (77.05) were aphasic. The neurological deficit, impairments of spatial orientation and presents of aphasia were highly correlated with falls (p

Key words: acute stroke. Falls.