STEADI Stay Independent: falls
Twelve yes-or-no statements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s STEADI fall-prevention program, covering past falls, walking aids, balance, feet, medicines and mood. Each “yes” carries the points the checklist gives it, the total runs from 0 to 14, and the result shows what the checklist says about that score. A score can be kept with its date, so a later score sits beside the earlier one.
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The checklist itself is free on the CDC website.
The questionnaire
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What the score means, in the authors’ words
Scores run from 0 to 14.
- 0 to 3: Below 4, the threshold the checklist sets.
- 4 to 14: At or above the threshold. The CDC checklist states: “If you scored 4 points or more, you may be at risk for falling.”
The checklist was developed by the Greater Los Angeles VA Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center. Its validation compared the answers of 40 adults aged 65 and over with a clinician’s fall-risk evaluation under the American and British Geriatrics Societies’ guideline and found strong agreement; the authors wrote that a larger study following people over time is needed to show how well it predicts future falls.
The checklist is a self-assessment. A clinician’s fall-risk assessment adds measured tests of gait, strength and balance.
Related on EBL
- SARC-F: the muscle strength questionnaire, which also asks about falls
- Osteoporosis: the options EBL grades for it, with their letters
Source and terms of use
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. STEADI: Stay Independent brochure. 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/steadi-brochure-stayindependent-508.pdf
- Rubenstein LZ, Vivrette R, Harker JO, Stevens JA, Kramer BJ. Validating an evidence-based, self-rated fall risk questionnaire (FRQ) for older adults. J Safety Res. 2011;42(6):493-499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2011.08.006
Terms of use: Source: CDC. Public domain material of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, available on the CDC website at no charge; the checklist was adapted by CDC with permission of its authors. Its use here does not imply endorsement by CDC, HHS or the United States Government of EBL or of anything EBL offers. (as stated here, checked 2026-11). The questions, answers and points are reproduced as published.
How it works
Where the questions, points and cut-off come from
The questions, the answers and the points for each answer are the authors’ own, reproduced as published, and the source papers are listed with the questionnaire. The page adds them up and prints, beside the total, the authors’ own words about that range of scores. EBL adds no interpretation of its own.
A kept score is stored with its date. Kept scores are listed by date with the change from the one before. A change shows what moved, not why.
What happens to your data
Nothing you enter leaves this device. Your answers and any score you keep are saved in this browser’s own storage, nothing is sent to EBL or anyone else, and signing in does not copy them to your account. Because EBL holds no copy, clearing this browser’s site data removes them for good.