Introduction:

Falls can cause various consequences, which include in addition to fractures and injuries, interference in the performance of daily activities of the elderly.

Objective:

To characterize the risk factors associated with falls in elderly patients in the hospital.

Methods:

Descriptive cross-sectional survey, conducted with 99 elderly admitted to a university hospital in the city of Natal/RN/Brazil. Data collection took place between June and September 2013, after approval of the Research Ethics Committee, under opinion 121.028. Data were analyzed using statistical tests chi-square and Mann-Whitney.

Results:

The 25.3 % of the elderly were down 31.3 % and difficulty walking. The Hypertension showed significance with difficulty walking. In addition, fatigue was associated with the occurrence of falls. The difficulty walking was associated with the need for help to walk, limitation to walk, bathing, climbing stairs, pain and impaired mobility. Still, there was an association between difficulty walking and insulin use, as well as between the fall and the use of antiplatelets. Moreover, the segment referring to the march of Tinetti scale showed significance with walking difficulties.

Conclusions:

The data presented on the risk factors of falls in elderly patients admitted to hospital environment emphasize the importance of a safe-centered care in the most prevalent risk factors, to consider all organic changes, as well as clinical and environmental conditions own hospitalization.

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