Falls requiring visit to emergency room in a population-based cohort of diabetic patients in Italy

Background: the aims were to assess the frequency of falls among the diabetic adult population of the italian northeastern region friuli venezia giulia and to identify risk factors.methods: this was a population-based retrospective cohort study using administrative data of the regional health information system as the source of information. in a cohort of diabetics 18 years of age or more,living in the region on december 31,2014,the occurrence of falls requiring a visit to the regional emergency rooms was assessed. multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with increased risk of falling.results: of 80,162 cohort subjects,2967 (3.7%) had at least one fall requiring a visit to er. factors associated with increased risk of falling were female sex,older age,prescription of a thiazolidinedione as the last antidiabetic medication in 2014,increasing number of active principles prescribed in 2014,longer diabetes duration,and prescription of certain classes of medications other than antidiabetics in 2014.conclusions: in friuli venezia giulia,injurious falls are a complication of diabetes relevant from the public health viewpoint. efforts are needed to screen diabetic patients,review their prescriptions,provide appropriate care,and implement targeted interventions to minimize the individual risk of falls.