[Drug prescriptions and multiple falls in community-dwelling frail elderly subjects]

The purpose of the study was to identify associations between drug prescriptions and the risk of falls in community-dwelling frail elderly people. 360 frail elderly patients underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment during hospital stay. After discharge, the home falls were recorded by a questionnaire during the follow-up year and a home visit was carried out at the end of the year. Of 279 final patients with complete data, 141 subjects (50.5%) fell once; 62 subjects (22.2%) had a history of two or more falls during the follow-up period. Compared with subjects who did not fall or fell at the most once, those subjects with two or more falls showed a significantly higher prescription of tranquillizers/hypnotics, neuroleptics, diuretics, nitrates, and five or more different drugs. In multivariate analysis the prescription of tranquillizers/hypnotics with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.02 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.14 to 3.68) and the prescription of five or more different drugs with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.25 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 4.49) were found to be independent risk factors for multiple falls. In this prospective study in community-dwelling frail, elderly people the prescription of tranquillizers/hypnotics and five or more different medications could be identified as independent risk factors for multiple falls.