Interviews, observational data, and quantitative data on physical condition were collected on 100 hospitalized patients at the time of a fall and compared with data from 100 randomly selected patients who had not fallen. Those who had fallen were more likely to have had a previous fall, presence of a secondary diagnosis, intravenous therapy, impaired gait, used walking aids, and have a poor mental status. Correctly classified by these variables were 80.5% of the patients. Examination of the falls and the false negative group revealed three types of patient falls: physiological anticipated, physiological unanticipated, and accidental falls. Appropriate preventive strategies for each type of fall are suggested.