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Benzodiazepines, Antipsychotics Increase the Risk of Falls in Hospitalised Elderly Patients: Presented at AAGP By Carole VanSickle Ellis SAVANNAH, Ga -- March 10, 2010 -- When physicians prescribe antipsychotics or benzodiazepines for elderly, hospitalised patients, the risks of falls should be carefully weighted against the benefits, researchers said here on March 7 at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP). Although it appeared that benzodiazepines were safer than antipsychotics, caution should come when prescribing to elderly patients because of the associated adverse effects. “The risk of falls associated with antipsychotic medication as well as benzodiazepines is not well studied,” said Ghulam-Murtaza Bajwa, MD, Bergen Regional Medical Centre, Paramus, New Jersey. Dr. Bajwa and colleagues conducted a retrospective chart review of patients aged older than 65 years who had been admitted to in-patient psychiatric units from January 2009 to July 2009. Charts with incident reports related to documented falls in the elderly population were targeted. In a group of 50 charts, 32 had falls associated with medications. Of these, 24 of the patients were on antipsychotics and 8 were on benzodiazepines. Patients taking antipsychotic medications had a 3-fold increase in risk of falls and fractures compared with those taking benzodiazepines. “We targeted falls that were associated with the medications,” said Dr. Bajwa. “This study did not focus on time of day, lighting, or other factors that could impact falls.” The group concluded that benzodiazepines are safer in patients aged 65 years and older, but that it is unclear if other medications used to treat comorbid conditions could also be responsible for the risk of falls. They pointed out that the limited size of the study could have impacted their findings. However, “reducing the use of medications that cause falls in residents of nursing homes or hospitalised patients should be a high priority for physicians, pharmacists, and nursing staff,” the researchers concluded. [Presentation title: Risk of Falls in Elderly Hospitalized Patients. Abstract EI07] E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version