Conclusions The use of sedatives and hypnotics and antidepressants including tricyclic antidepressants , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors appears to be related with an increased risk of falls .
It is not clear if the use of antihypertensive medications is associated with the risk of falls in older people
Purpose Falls are an important public health problem in older people .
Medication use is considered a risk factor for falls .
This study systematic ally review ed recent studies to determine the medications that might be associated with the risk of falling in older people .
Quality use of medicines and health outcomes among a cohort of community dwelling older men: an observational study.
AIM To determine the prevalence of potentially suboptimal medication use and association with adverse outcomes . METHODS A prospect i ve , observational cohort study of 4260 community-dwelling older men from Perth , Western Australia ( mean age of 77 ± 3.6 years ) was conducted . Follow-up was for 4.5 years ( or until death , if sooner ) . Cox proportional hazard models were used to explore associations between suboptimal medication use and prospect i ve clinical outcomes . Logistic regression analyses were used to explore predictors of a fall in the previous 12 months . RESULTS Use of potentially inappropriate medicines  ( 48.7 % ) , polypharmacy ( ≥5 medications , 35.8 % ) and potential under-utilization ( 56.7 % ) were highly prevalent , and overall 82.3 % of participants reported some form of potentially suboptimal medication use . A self-reported history of falls in the previous 12 months was independently associated with the number of medicines taken ( odds ratio [OR]= 1.06 , 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] 1.02 , 1.09 ) and use of one or more potentially inappropriate medicines ( OR = 1.23 , 95 % CI 1.04 , 1.45 ) . After adjusting for age , co-morbidity , smoking status , body mass index , hypertension and educational attainment , the number of medicines reported was associated with admission to hospital ( hazard ratio [HR]= 1.04 , 95 % CI 1.03 , 1.06 ) , cardiovascular events ( HR = 1.09 , 95 % CI 1.06 , 1.12 ) and all cause mortality ( HR = 1.04 , 95 % CI 1.00 , 1.07 ) . Use of one or more potentially inappropriate medicines was associated with admission to hospital ( HR = 1.16 , 95 % CI 1.08 , 1.24 ) . Potential under-utilization was associated with cardiovascular events ( HR = 1.20 , 95 % CI 1.03 , 1.40 ) . CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that both medication over-use and under-use occur frequently among older men and may be harmful
Conclusions The use of sedatives and hypnotics and antidepressants including tricyclic antidepressants , selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors , and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors appears to be related with an increased risk of falls .
It is not clear if the use of antihypertensive medications is associated with the risk of falls in older people
Purpose Falls are an important public health problem in older people .
Medication use is considered a risk factor for falls .
This study systematic ally review ed recent studies to determine the medications that might be associated with the risk of falling in older people .