Objective:
To evaluate the relationship between polypharmacy and the risk of recurrent falls and to assess the fall risk with different pharmacological groups of drugs.
Materials and Methods:
In this cross-sectional study, falls risk-increasing drugs were defined as cardiovascular drugs, analgesics, central nervous system drugs, endocrine drugs, and others. Falls were evaluated according to their presence during the past 12 months. Two or more falls were recorded as recurrent fallers.
Results:
Five hundred and eighteen participants had a mean age of 71.9 years (7.5) and 71.0% were female. While 87 (51.4%) participants fell once, 82 (48.5%) participants reported recurrent falls. Two hundred and eighty-eight (55.6%) participants had polypharmacy. The percentage of patients who used at least one potentially inappropriate mediation on admission, as defined by the Beers criteria, was 155 (29.9%). The determinants of the risk of recurrent falls were older age and use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) [odds ratio (OR) 1.05: 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.00-1.09 and OR 4.04: 95% CI 1.70-9.60, respectively]. Low handgrip strength (HGS) increased the risk of falls approximately 1.7 times OR 1.69 95% CI 1.11-2.58).
Conclusion:
Although the polypharmacy rate of the participants was high, there was no significant relationship between polypharmacy and falling. However, we found low HGS, a component of sarcopenia, as a risk factor for falls, and use of ACE-I and older were risk factors for recurrent falls.
Keywords: Falls risk-increasing drugs, handgrip, older adults, polypharmacy, recurrent falls