Background
Accidents in hospitalised children have not yet been
thoroughly investigated in literature, whereas in
hospitalised adults falls are perhaps one of the most
deeply and widely investigated phenomena in terms
of predictability and their avoidance. Most of the
studies focus on the population with the highest risk
of falling, i.e. the elderly, but accidents also occur
in children, as shown by a study that monitored all
accidents occurring on hospital wards (Levene,
Bonfield 1991).
Patients and visitors were studied for a period of
18 months: children between the age of 3 and 5 were
those mostly subject to the risk of accidents and 41%
of the accidents occurred in the presence of parents.
Among the factors associated with the risk of
falls in children are early ambulation and the ability
to perceive height and depth. The risk of falls in
children is higher when they crawl on all fours (Adolph
2000).
Falls can be divided into the following three categories:
1. Accidental falls: these occur when a patient falls
unintentionally, usually after stumbling or slipping,
equipment failure or other environmental factors;
these patients cannot be classified “at risk” before
the event occurs;