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Introduction: In geriatrics, most risk factors associated with falls have been identified and management strategies developed accordingly. This is not the case in palliative care. The incidence rate of falls, the consequences related to falls, and other related factors were determined in elderly cancer patients hospitalized for palliative care in an exploratory study.

Methods: All consecutive patients hospitalized with advanced cancer were included over a 1-year period. Each fall was identified and detailed by a routinely collected incident report. Associations between variables and falls were assessed.

Results: Mean age of the 198 patients (116 F) was 71.0 ± 12.1 years. Of these, 36 had a fall at least once. Delirium occurred significantly more often in fallers (p = 0.029). There was a nonsignificant trend for a higher number of prescribed drugs in fallers (n = 8.5 ± 3.7 versus 7.5 ± 3.2; p = 0.4) who received significantly more …