Study, Jul/22: Risk of Falls Associated w/Long-Acting Benzos or Tricyclics

The full title of this Korean study is "Risk of Falls Associated with Long-Acting Benzodiazepines or Tricyclic Antidepressants Use in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Nationwide Population-Based Case-Crossover Study".

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35886415/

Abstract

Background: Falls are common in older adults and increase in recent years. This study aimed to examine the risk of falls associated with long-acting benzodiazepines (BZDs) or tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) use in community-dwelling older adults.

Methods: A nationwide population-based case-crossover design was used. We screened information on 6,370,275 fall or fall fracture cases among community-dwelling elderly patients from the database of the national health insurance data warehouse in South Korea. We extracted the data of elderly patients who visited the hospital for a fall and were diagnosed with the first fall or fall fracture after prescription of long-acting BZDs (n = 1805) or TCAs (n = 554). The study used conditional logistic regression analysis to analyze the associations and stratified analysis by gender and age group to control for their confounding effects.

Results: Risk of falls or fall fractures increased by more than two times after taking long-acting BZDs (odds ratio [OR] = 2.16; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.85-2.52) or TCAs (OR = 2.13; 95% CI = 1.62-2.83). The longer the prescription period of both, the higher the risk of falls or fall fractures was (≥49 days for long-acting BZDs vs. ≥ 56 days for TCAs).

Conclusions: Long-acting BZDs or TCAs should be avoided or prescribed for a shorter duration based on these adverse effects. Health care providers should focus on fall prevention practices in older adults who take such drugs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9319084/