All the persons aged 70 years or older and living in long-term institu
tional care in five rural northern Finnish municipalities (N = 145) we
re followed up for two years, and all their fall incidents were record
ed through diary reporting by the nursing staff and by examining the m
edical records in hospitals, health centres and nursing homes. The stu
dy population was examined halfway through the follow-up period by two
nurses, a physiotherapist and a physician. Of the 93 ambulatory subje
cts, 57% of the men and 56% of the women experienced at least two fall
s in six months (recurrent falls): 10% of the recurrent falls resulted
in a major soft tissue injury and 5% in a fracture. Logistic regressi
on analyses showed the independent risk factors for recurrent falls to
be slow walking speed, a change in living conditions during the previ
ous two years, reduced quadriceps strength and existence of an ophthal
mic disease. Many of the risk factors are potentially remediable, and
they should be minimized by optimizing the care and by improving or ma
intaining the functional abilities of the elderly.