costs are directly connected to the number of patients
in the hospital and are often measured on a per-patientday
basis; these include costs such as patient sitters.
We identified 5 studies that provided sufficient
data on the costs of patient falls-prevention interventions
to incorporate into a cost analysis. Two studies
focused on the costs associated with using patient sitters
to prevent falls,49,54 and 1 compared the costs associated
with using sitters to the use of a bed-exit
monitoring device.39 The average variable costs associatedwith
these strategies ranged from$3.42 per day
to $33.07 per day, depending on whether patient sitters
were on duty at all times for patients at risk or only
for selected periods of the day. The bed-exit monitoring
devicewas charged on a per-occupied-bed-day basis
and thus was a variable cost.We also examined data
from a patient education program designed to reduce
falls50 and a multidisciplinary prevention program.16
These 2 approaches included both fixed and variable
costs. These data are summarized in Table 3.