Association between polypharmacy and falls in older adults: a longitudinal study from England. Issue 10 (16th October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dhalwani, Nafeesa N; Fahami, Radia; Sathanapally, Harini; Seidu, Sam; Davies, Melanie J; Khunti, Kamlesh
• Is Part Of: BMJ open. Volume 7:Issue 10(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-10-16
• Subjects: clinical pharmacology -- epidemiology -- geriatric medicine -- primary care; Medicine -- Research -- Periodicals; 610.72
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-016358
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2044-6055

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: Assess the longitudinal association between polypharmacy and falls and examine the differences in this association by different thresholds for polypharmacy definitions in a nationally representative sample of adults aged over 60 years from England. Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Setting: The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing waves 6 and 7. Participants: 5213 adults aged 60 or older. Main outcome measures: Rates, incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% CI for falls in people with and without polypharmacy. Results: A total of 5213 participants contributed 10 502 person-years of follow-up, with a median follow-up of 2.02 years (IQR 1.9–2.1 years). Of the 1611 participants with polypharmacy, 569 reported at least one fall within the past 2 years (rate: 175 per 1000 person-years, 95% CI 161 to 190), and of the 3602 participants without polypharmacy 875 reported at least one fall (rate: 121 per 1000 person-years, 95% CI 113 to 129). The rate of falls was 21% higher in people with polypharmacy compared with people without polypharmacy (adjusted IRR 1.21, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.31). Using ≥4 drugs threshold the rate of falls was 18% higher in people with polypharmacy compared with people without (adjusted IRR 1.18, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.28), whereas using ≥10 drugs threshold polypharmacy was associated with a 50% higher rate of falls (adjusted IRR 1.50, 95% CI 1.34 to 1.67). Conclusions: We found almost one-third of the total population using five or more drugs, which was significantly associated with 21% increased rate of falls over a 2-year period. Further exploration of the effects of these complex drug combinations in the real world with a detailed standardised assessment of polypharmacy is greatly required along with pragmatic studies in primary care, which will help inform whether the threshold for a detailed medication review should be lowered.