The Relationship Between Anticholinergic Exposure and Falls, Fractures, and Mortality in Patients with Overactive...

Understanding risk factors associated with falls is important for optimizing care and quality of life for older patients.

Our objective was to determine the relationship between anticholinergic exposure and falls, fractures, and all-cause mortality.

An observational retrospective cohort study was conducted using administrative claims data from 1 January 2007 to 30 September 2015. Individuals aged 65-89 years newly diagnosed or treated for overactive bladder (OAB) were identified. Index date was the first OAB diagnosis or OAB medication prescription claim. Follow-up began on the index date and continued until death, disenrollment, or end of study period. The Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden (ACB) scale was used to define and quantify daily anticholinergic exposure and intensity. The primary study outcome was a combined endpoint of falls or fractures. All-cause mortality was a secondary endpoint.

There were 113,311 patients with mean age of 74.8 ± standard deviation (SD) 6.2 years included. Current anticholinergic exposure was associated with a 1.28-fold increased hazard of a fall/fracture (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-1.32) compared with unexposed person-time, and past exposure was associated with a 1.14-fold increased hazard of a fall/fracture (95% CI 1.12-1.17). Compared with unexposed person-time, low-, moderate-, and high-intensity anticholinergic exposure was associated with a 1.04-fold (95% CI 1.00-1.07), 1.13-fold (95% CI 1.09-1.17), and 1.31-fold (95% CI 1.26-1.36) increased hazard of falls/fractures, respectively. A similar pattern was observed for all-cause mortality.

Anticholinergic exposure is associated with an increased risk of falls or fractures in older patients and is an important consideration when evaluating treatment options for such patients with OAB.