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Of the more than 230,000 patients in almost 10,000 nursing homes in the United States, researchers from the University of Southern California and Brown University found that 21% of newly admitted nursing home residents sustained at least one fall during their first 30 days in the facility.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, is the first of its kind to look at new nursing home patients and researchers say it was important because the patients are in a new environment - unfamiliar to staff, identification and management.

Staffing is important in decreasing the risk of falls, researchers found. According to researchers, nursing homes with higher certified nursing assistants-to-patients ratio saw fewer falls "because CNAs provide much of the hands-on patient care during high-risk activities such as toileting, dressing, and ambulation."

Lead author Natalie Leland, a research gerontologist and occupational therapist at the University of Southern California, explains how this study highlights the unique health care goals of a rehabilitating population striving to get back to the community relative to those of long-term patients who reside in the nursing home.

"A fall can delay or permanently prevent the patient from returning to the community, and identifying risk of falling is essential for implementing fall prevention strategies and facilitating successful discharge back to the community."