Falls in hospital settings: a longitudinal study.

This study aims to assess the prevalence of falls, understand their consequences, identify causes and analyze intervention strategies to prevent them. This is a descriptive longitudinal study, from 2007 to 2009, in which nurses recorded patients' falls in a medicine ward, using a scale developed for this end. Most falls occurred with partially dependent patients, with a mean age ranging from 64 to 74 years. The bedroom was, in all of these years, the place where most of these falls occurred. Although most falls did not have consequences, they were observed in 36% of the cases. The number of falls increased throughout the years of the study. There was also a difference in the percentage of occurrences in the afternoon and night shifts (39% in 2007, 57% in 2008 and 64% in 2009). The identification of obstacles to referral and how to overcome them are analyzed here.