Non-institutionalized frail elderly: are there any medications associated with falls? A case-control study.

• Main Author: Botelho, Fábio Rogério da Silva
• Publication Date: 2022
• Other Authors: Enes, Thais Bueno, Sanches, Cristina, Rocha, Gustavo Machado, Schneider, Carl, Morato, Ygor Colen, Ayres, Lorena Rocha, Reis, Tiago Marques, Baldoni, André de Oliveira
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano
• Download full: https://revistas.unilasalle.edu.br/index.php/saude_desenvolvimento/article/view/7436
• topic: Fall; Frailty; Frail Elderly; Medications; Queda; Fragilidade; Idosos Frágeis; Medicações

Objective: To analyze the association between falls and medication use in non-institutionalized frail elderly.Method: This is a case-control study that was conducted with users of Primary Care of the Unified (Public) Health System (SUS) in the city of Divinópolis, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The cases were frail elderly individuals with a self-reported fall in the last year, and the controls were frail elderly individuals with no report of falling, matched for gender, age and health centers. The outcome variable was fall occurrence in the last year. Exposure variables were medication use by medication class, use of combination medication therapy, initiation and cessation, and dose adjustment over the past 12 months. The magnitude of the associations was estimated by Odds Ratio (OR).Results: In the univariate analysis, the use of anti-anemic medication, anti-inflammatory medication, antiepileptics and medication cessation and initiation were associated with falling. After adjusting for the other exposure and covariate variables, there was a significant association between falls and use of anti-anemic medication (OR=6,10; 95% CI 1,72 – 21,58).Conclusion: A fall in non-institutionalized frail elderly individuals were associated with the use of anti-anemic medication, an association that has not been described in other studies.