[Factors relating to falls in hospitalized patients].

Falls are one indicator of quality, and are classified as an adverse event, where the consequences of these can range from mild to severe and even fatal; the Joint Commission International (JCI) reports them as the sixth most frequently reported event in the database Sentinel Events. A challenge for health institutions is to maintain a risk-free environment, ensuring users to achieve the expected improvement; however each hospital is extremely complex due to the constant interaction of the person with their environment, making it necessary to have clear understanding of the variables that can influence the situation. To consider a risk-free environment must be considered preventive actions to minimize risk factors, which can be both intrinsic and extrinsic, first includes the particular characteristics of the person, and the latter refers to the hospital environment. It is important to consider that within the intrinsic factors, although they cannot be completely modified, is necessary to make an assessment and identify risks to promote preventive measures, respect to the extrinsic; is responsibility of the multidisciplinary health team to identify and eliminate the causes that contribute to the presence of falls.