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Background: Recurrent fallers constitute a minority of patients who fall but contribute considerably to the total number of falls recorded. Objective: To study the characteristics of recurrent fallers in a hospital setting. Methods: In a prospective observational study we investigated the characteristics of 1,025 patients admitted to a geriatric non-acute hospital. Patients were followed until discharge and were classified as non-fallers, single fallers or recurrent fallers. Results: We identified 824 non-fallers, 136 single fallers and 65 recurrent fallers contributing 175 falls. Compared to non-fallers, recurrent fallers were more likely to have pre-admission falls (p = 0.004), confusion (p < 0.0001), an unsafe gait (p = 0.0001) and be on tranquillisers (p = 0.018) and antidepressants (p = 0.006). They had longer stays in hospital (p < 0.0001) and more nursing home discharges (p = 0.0001). There was considerable overlap …