A simple instrument to assess the risk of falling in postpartum women: the SLOPE scale (riSk of faLling in pOstPartum womEn)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to introduce a novel instrument aimed at stratifying the risk of falling in postpartum patients. The research was a survey of a sample of 460 midwives working at different hospitals, mainly in Northern Italy, except for a hospital in Rome (Italy). The survey, consisting of 70 items, was conducted among midwives and asked them to express their opinion regarding the increased risk of falling in puerperal women on a Likert scale according to the characteristics listed in the questionnaire. Items were derived from the synthesis of scales available in the literature from settings other than the postpartum period, and interviews were conducted with midwives with great experience in this area. A shortened version was obtained using principal component analysis. A 30-item final scale was obtained, the SLOPE (riSk of faLling in pOst-Partum womEn), ranging from 0 to 100. The scale allows stratification of postpartum women at low (0–10), intermediate (10–20) and high risk (>20) of falling. The development of the SLOPE scale is the first step towards more rational evidence-based management of the risk of falling in postpartum women in current clinical practice.

Impact statement

• What is already known on this subject? Falls occurring in the postnatal period are not limited to women because infants are often involved in this adverse event, with several significant consequences. There is a lack of information on this issue due to the absence of both registries and scales for the prevention of falls.

• What do the results of this study add? The main result of this study is the development of a novel scale to assess the falling risk in postpartum women.

• What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The development of this novel scale, even if based on midwives’ experience and not on patients’ data, is a first step towards a more rational evidence-based management of the risk of falling in postpartum women.

Keywords:

• Postpartum women
• principal component analysis
• puerperium
• risk assessment
• risk of falling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.