MEDICATIONS AND CHRONIC DISEASES AS RISK-FACTORS FOR FALLING INJURIESIN THE ELDERLY

Diseases and medications associated with the occurrence of falls leadi ng to medical treatment in elderly Finns (65 yrs or older) during a on e-year period are presented. The design was that of a case-control stu dy involving 380 fallers seeking medical treatment and 342 unmatched c ontrols selected randomly from the population register. The occurrence of a fall was shown by logistic regression analysis to be related to advanced age, presence of benzodiazepine in the serum, hypertrophy of the prostate, poor mental capacity, presence of chronic lung disease a nd asthma, use of analgesics and use of digitalis in the men, and to a dvanced age, poor mental capacity, presence of benzodiazepine in the s erum, use of analgesics and non-occurrence of lower limb arthrosis in the women. The corresponding log-linear models showed advanced age and the presence of benzodiazepine in the serum to be independent risk fa ctors for falling both in the men and women. Furthermore, the use of a nalgesics was related to falling in the women with normal mental capac ities. No disease was independently associated with falls. The results suggest caution in the use of benzodiazepines among the elderly.