Drug prescriptions and multiple falls in community-dwelling frail elderly subjects

The purpose of the study was to identify associations between drug prescrip tions and the risk of falls in community-dwelling frail elderly people. 360 frail elderly patients underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment d uring hospital stay. After discharge, the home falls were recorded by a que stionnaire during the follow-up year and a home visit was carried out at th e end of the year. Of 279 final patients with complete data, 141 subjects (50.5 %) fell once; 62 subjects (22.2 %) had a history of two or more falls during the follow-u p period. Compared with subjects who did not fall or fell at the most once, those subjects with two or more falls showed a significantly higher prescr iption of tranquillizers/hypnotics, neuroleptics, diuretics, nitrates, and five or more different drugs. In multivariate analysis the prescription of tranquillizers/hypnotics with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.02 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.14 to 3.6 8) and the presription of five or more different drugs with an adjusted odd s ratio of 2.25 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.03 to 4.49) were found t o be independent risk factors for multiple falls. In this prospective study in community-dwelling frail, elderly people the p rescription of tranquillizers/hypnotics and five or more different medicati ons could be identified as independent risk factors for multiple falls.