FALLS IN SUBJECTS OLDER THAN 65 YEARS - R OLE OF MEDICATIONS - A STUDY OF 100 CONSECUTIVE CASES

One hundred patients older than 65 years consecutively admitted to an internal medicine department because of a fall were studied. To evalua te the contribution of medication use to the fall, patients were asked to report use of the following categories of drugs at the time of the fall: thiazide and loop diuretics, central antidepressant agents and alpha-blocking agents, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, neuroleptic a gents, and barbiturates. Each active ingredient in combination drugs w as considered separately. The study met with significant difficulties (inaccurate reporting by patients, multiple sensory impairments and me dical conditions, use of numerous drugs) and, consequently no definiti ve conclusions could be drawn. However it was concluded that medicatio n use directly caused eight falls, contributed to 64 additional falls, and played no role in 28 falls.