Objective:

To determine the prevalence, characteristics, causes (intrinsic and extrinsic), and factors associated to falls among the elder.

Methodology:

This is a transversal and descriptive study with 183 elder individuals attending a geriatric unit in a public hospital. Data were collected using a Demographic Profile, the Mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Barthel Scale, Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL), and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), as well as registers on the number, characteristics and causes of the falls. Descriptive statistics, and risk odds ratios at the level of p ≤ 0.05 were calculated.

Results:

The prevalence of falls was 24%. The most frequent places of occurrence were the living room, the dorm, and the street. From those who had falls, 9.1% were hospitalized and 59.1% suffered diverse wounds. Among the consequences of falls were: subsequent difficulty to walk; fear to suffering new falls; and changes in the residence location. Among the factors associated to accidental falls were: being 80 years and older; not being work-exempted; and having depressive symptoms.

Conclusions:

Falls can be associated to diverse factors and thus, health professionals need to be trained to identified them, and provide individualized care plans to prevent possible adverse events.