Characterisation of reported falls in a large hospital in southern Brazil: an observational study
Published 2026-07-27
Keywords
- Accidental Falls; Accident Prevention; Patient Education; Risk Factors; Nursing
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2026 Julia Ruth Toledo da Silva, Adriana Aparecida Paz, Ana Amélia Antunes Lima, Maria do Céu Mendes Pinto Marques, Carolina Caruccio Montanari, Sidiclei Machado Carvalho, Elisandra Leites Pinheiro
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Introduction
Hospital falls are recurrent adverse events that directly affect patient safety, representing a significant challenge for healthcare institutions. Although widely documented with regard to patients, falls involving members of the hospital community, such as family members, companions and workers, continue to receive limited attention in the literature.
Objective
To characterise reported falls in a large hospital in southern Brazil.
Methods
A cross-sectional, descriptive and retrospective study with a quantitative approach. Data were extracted from the fall reports recorded in 2022 in the institution’s incident reporting system. The sample included complete records of falls involving patients and members of the community. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results
Of the 294 reports analysed, 249 (84.7%) referred to patients and 45 (15.3%) to community members. Among patients, 66% of falls occurred in older adults aged 60 years or over, with a predominance of intrinsic factors, such as imbalance (28.5%) and loss of strength (20.1%). In the community group, composed mainly of middle-aged adults, although intrinsic factors remained slightly more frequent, a high proportion of falls was associated with extrinsic factors (47%), especially trips and slips. More than half of the events occurred in the patient’s room or bathroom, approximately 24% resulted in injuries, and 39% were witnessed by companions, family members or healthcare professionals, which may have contributed to mitigating the impact of the event.
Conclusion
The majority of falls occurred among older patients (≥60 years), mainly associated with intrinsic factors, whereas in the community, composed of middle-aged adults, a high proportion of falls due to extrinsic factors was observed. These results reinforce the importance of implementing prevention strategies that include environmental interventions and educational actions directed not only at patients but also at companions and family members present in the hospital environment.