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Medications and Chronic Diseases as Risk Factors for Falling Injuries in the Elderly

Olli-Pekka Ryynänen, University of Kuopio, Public Health Research Institute and Department of Community Medicine and General Practice, Kuopio, Finland, Address for correspondence: Olli-Pekka Ryynänen Department of Community Medicine and General Practice P.O. Box 1627 SF-70211 Kuopio Finland

Sirkka-Liisa Kivelä

Sirkka-Liisa Kivelä, University of Oulu, Department of Public Health Science and General Practice Oulu, Finland

Risto Honkanen

Risto Honkanen, University of Kuopio, Public Health Research Institute and Department of Community Medicine and General Practice, Kuopio, Finland

Pekka Laippala

Pekka Laippala, University of Tampere, Department of Public Health Science, Tampere, Finland

Veijo Saano

Veijo Saano, University of Kuopio, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Kuopio, Finland

Diseases and medications associated with the occurrence of falls leading to medical treatment in elderly Finns (65 yrs or older) during a one-year period are presented. The design was that of a case-control study involving 380 fallers seeking medical treatment and 342 unmatched controls 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 and asthma, use of analgesies and use of digitalis in the men, and to advanced age, poor mental capacity, presence of benzodiazepine in the serum, use of analgesies 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 factors for falling both in the men and women. Furthermore, the use of analgesies was related to falling in the women with normal mental capacities. No disease was independently associated with falls. The results suggest caution in the use of benzodiazepines among the elderly.

Key Words: falls • accidents • aged • drug utilization • benzodiazepine • psychotropic drugs

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 21, No. 4, 264-271 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/140349489302100406


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