![]() Mainly due to methodological difficulties the debate on the influence of the elimination half-life of benzodiazepines on fall risk is yet undecided. Despite this advice, several aspects of the fall risk increasing properties of psychotropic drugs are uncertain. >1 month), long-acting benzodiazepines’ potentially inappropriate because of the risks of prolonged sedation, confusion, impaired balance and falls. Among the prescriptions that are active in the central nervous system, the tool deems the use of ‘long-term (i.e. The STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Persons' potentially inappropriate Prescriptions) is an explicit medicine review tool that is rapidly gaining importance in geriatric medicine. Furthermore, only a few studies have used prospectively obtained data on falls in most pharmacoepidemiological studies retrospective data on falls or (hip) fractures were used as primary endpoints. Persons with pre-existing conditions that increase the risk of injurious falls are significantly more likely to receive a new prescription for a benzodiazepine. Īlthough most studies applied adjustment for co-morbid conditions, confounding by indication cannot be ruled out as a partial explanation of the association of psychotropic drug use with increased fall risk. Apart from the loss of function and quality of life attributable to medication-related falls, the financial impact on society is considerable. Moreover, their use has been shown to be not only associated with increased risk of injurious falls, but also with increased risk of hip fractures. Previous research has shown that psychotropic medications, such as benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants, are associated with increased fall risk. Ten percent of falls leads to serious consequences such as fractures, requiring medical treatment. One-third of the older population experiences at least one fall each year, 15% falls two times or more each year. The use of both SBs and LBs by old persons should be strongly discouraged.Īged, accidental falls, benzodiazepines, sedatives, adverse drug events, older people Introductionįalls and fall-related complications are a major problem in older persons. LBs were not significantly associated with number of falls, OR 1.23 (0.96–1.57) and 1.10 (0.82–1.48).Ĭonclusions: the use of SBs is not associated with a lower fall risk compared with LBs. In both studies, the use of SBs was also associated with number of falls, odds ratio (OR) 1.28 (95% CI: 1.01–1.61) and OR 1.37 (95% CI: 1.10–1.70). LBs were not significantly associated with time to first fall, HR 1.40 (0.85–2.31) and HR 1.08 (0.72–1.62). Results: both in Study 1 and Study 2 the use of SBs was associated with time to the first fall, hazard ratio (HR) 1.62 (95% CI: 1.03–2.56) and HR 1.64 (95% CI: 1.19–2.26),respectively. Time to the first fall after inclusion and number of falls in the first year after inclusion were the primary endpoints. Methods: we used base-line data and prospective fall follow-up from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a longitudinal cohort study including 1,509 community-dwelling older persons (Study 1) and from a separate fall prevention study with 564 older persons after a fall (Study 2). Objective: to study whether LBs are associated with a higher fall risk than short-acting benzodiazepines (SBs) (elimination half-life ≤10 h). Background: the STOPP criteria advise against the use of long-acting benzodiazepines (LBs).
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