Relationship of Prescribed Drugs with the Risk of Fall in Inpatients

Falls are common in elderly patients and are often serious. Several drugs have been associated with an increased risk of fall. Older adults often take multiple drugs for chronic diseases, and thus may be at increased risk from drugs associated with fall. We investigated the association between drug use and falling in hospitalized older people, with the goal of identifying medications that may increase the risk of a fall. A retrospective case control study was performed at the National Hospital Organization Kumamoto Saishunso Hospital in Japan. Medications taken by patients who fell (n=57) were compared with those taken by patients who did not fall (n=63). The median age (interquartile range; IQR) of the fall and non-fall groups were 75.0 (67.0-83.0) and 80.0 (70.3-84.5) years, respectively. The characteristics of the two groups were similar, with no significant differences in age, sex, or body weight. The probability of falling increased when the patients used zolpidem [odds ratio (OR)=2.47; 95%CI: 1.09-5.63; p<0.05] and calcium channel antagonists (OR=0.299; 95%CI: 0.13-0.68; p<0.01), and was also related to physical factors (OR=2.27; 95%CI: 1.01-5.09; p<0.05). Elderly patients taking zolpidem may fall due to sleepiness, and blood pressure control may be important to prevent orthostatic high blood pressure. In the treatment of elderly people, medical staff should try to choose drugs that prevent fall or are not associated with falling.