Risk assessment and incidence of falls in adult hospitalized patients 1

OBJECTIVES assess the risk of falls in adult hospitalized patients and verify the incidence of the event in this environment. METHOD cohort study, with approval by the Research Ethics Committee, which monitored 831 patients hospitalized at a university hospital. The Morse Fall Scale (MFS) was used to assess the risk and patients with high risk (≥45 points) were considered exposed to falls. RESULTS the mean MFS score was 39.4 (±19.4) points. Between the first and the final assessment, the score increased by 4.6%. The first assessment score presented a strong and positive correlation with the final assessment score (r=0.810; p=0.000). CONCLUSION the higher the risk score for falls when the patient is admitted, the higher the score at the end of the hospitalization period and vice-versa. The incidence rate corresponded to 1.68% with a higher percentage of patients classified at high risk of falls.