Abstract
The purpose of this study was to survey the past history of falls in the psychiatric ward. The subjects were 129 psychiatric patients (75 males, 54 females) undergoing long-term hospitalization, who could walk independently. The number of falls in a one-year period was surveyed retrospectively. The results obtained were as follows: 1. 21.7% patients had fallen. 2. Fallers were higher in age than non-fallers and had a higher rate of physical disease. 3. The rate of falls was higher in females and in the isolation ward. 4. No relation was confirmed between falls and BMI, duration of hospitalization, prescription quantity major tranquilizer and minor tranquilizer. 5. Frequent repeated fall patients existed, which was attributed to a peculiarity of psychiatric patients. These findings suggested the importance of preventing falls by improving the physical fitness of psychiatric patients in the ward.
