One of the common risk to safety of patients in hospital is
the risk of fall. Several epidemiological studies has found that on an average 3
to 5 patient fall incidence occur in every 1000 bed-days. It is also estimated
that a third of fall results into injuries which could be severe such as
fracture. Due to the widespread prevalence and resulting harm, prevention of
patient fall is included as one of the International Patient Safety Goals
(IPSG) of JCI standards for hospitals.
The first step to prevention of fall is identifying patient
who is at a risk of fall. Most accreditation bodies, including NABH and JCI
expects hospital to undertake a fall risk assessment of all admitted patient
and take preventive measures for those who are at a higher risk of fall.
The table below describes the points that should be used for
assessing risk of fall, and classifies features into very high, high, moderate
and low risk categories.
