Polypharmacy including falls risk-increasing medications and subsequent falls in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults
Citation:
Richardson K, Bennett K, Kenny R.A, Polypharmacy including falls risk-increasing medications and subsequent falls in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults, Age and ageing, 44, 1, 2015, 90 - 96Download Item:

Abstract:
Background: polypharmacy is an important risk factor for falls, but recent studies suggest only when including medications associated with increasing the risk of falls.
Design: a prospective, population-based cohort study.
Subjects: 6,666 adults aged ≥50 years from The Irish Longitudinal study on Ageing.
Methods: participants reported regular medication use at baseline. Any subsequent falls, any injurious falls and the number of falls were reported 2 years later. The association between polypharmacy (>4 medications) or fall risk-increasing medications and subsequent falls or injurious falls was assessed using modified Poisson regression. The association with the number of falls was assessed using negative binomial regression.
Results: during follow-up, 231 falls per 1,000 person-years were reported. Polypharmacy including antidepressants was associated with a greater risk of any fall (adjusted relative risk (aRR) 1.28, 95% CI 1.06–1.54), of injurious falls (aRR 1.51, 95% CI 1.10–2.07) and a greater number of falls (adjusted incident rate ratio (aIRR) 1.60, 95% CI 1.19–2.15), but antidepressant use without polypharmacy and polypharmacy without antidepressants were not. The use of benzodiazepines was associated with injurious falls when coupled with polypharmacy (aRR 1.40, 95% CI 1.04–1.87), but was associated with a greater number of falls (aIRR 1.32, 95% CI 1.05–1.65), independent of polypharmacy. Other medications assessed, including antihypertensives, diuretics and antipsychotics, were not associated with outcomes.
Conclusion: in middle-aged and older adults, polypharmacy, including antidepressant or benzodiazepine use, was associated with injurious falls and a greater number of falls.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/rkenny
Author: KENNY, ROSE
Type of material:
Journal ArticleCollections:
Series/Report no:
Age and ageing44
1
Availability:
Full text availableDOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afu141Licences: