Select fall rate, estimated falls, or patient-days. Enter values for the same population and reporting period; use occupied patient-days, not available bed capacity.

Measure falls relative to occupied patient-days.

Aggregate rate, not an individual fall-risk prediction. Inverse estimates may be fractional.

Use the same population and reporting period as the falls.

Fall Rate Formula

The following two example problems outline the steps and information needed to calculate the Fall Rate.

FALL = F / BD × 1000
  • Where FALL is the Fall Rate (falls per 1000 bed days)
  • #F is the number of falls 
  • BD is the number of patient bed days 

To calculate the fall rate, divide the number of falls by the number of patient bed days, then multiply by 1,000 for falls per 1,000 patient-days.

How to Calculate Fall Rate?

The following example problems outline how to calculate Fall Rate.

Example Problem #1:

  1. First, determine the number of falls.
    • The number of falls is given as: 20.
  2. Next, determine the number of patient bed days.
    • The number of patient bed days is provided as: 3,000.
  3. Finally, calculate the Fall Rate using the equation above: 

FALL = #F / BD * 1000

The values provided above are inserted into the equation below and computed.

FALL = 20 / 3000 * 1000 ≈ 6.67 (falls per 1000 patient-days)

Example Problem #2: 

For this problem, the variables required are provided below:

number of falls = 30

number of patient bed days = 1,000

Test your knowledge using the equation and check your answer with the calculator..

FALL = #F / BD * 1000 = ?