Overmedication causes falls, injures and kills older people, study finds

Many seniors taking high-risk sleeping pills and painkillers have died less than a year after being injured and are twice as likely to fall and fracture, according to a study by the University of Toronto. 39; Otago.

An advanced study, based on Christchurch, measured the impact of taking multiple medications on fractures in the elderly.

He found that the side effects of some commonly prescribed medications – such as those used to treat sleep conditions, pain, and incontinence – reacted with others to create "extra effects," causing falls. About 90% of seniors' fractures are the result of a fall, and between 20 and 30% of seniors who have broken their hip have died within a year.

The study found that drugs related to a "significant increase" in the risk of bone fractures usually resulted in sedative or dry mouth effects, blurred vision, dizziness and confusion.

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Dr. Hamish Jamieson, researcher and geriatrician in Christchurch, who conducted the study, said people taking more than three medications, drugs that relax or affect cognition, were twice as likely

Side effects were especially evident in the elderly because they were unable to metabolize drugs as well as young people, generally took several medications and were more fragile, he added.

The impact of fractures on individuals and the community was "immense", resulting in loss of mobility, lower quality of life and premature entry into senior care facilities.

"All medications have beneficial effects, however, we are increasingly studying the long-term side effects of medications in the elderly.The effects may be subtle, but they can have a major impact on frail elderly people and dead premature. "

Jamieson said that understanding how multiple medications affect falls and fractures is "important" information for patients, their GPs and pharmacists. Rather than stopping the use of medications, elderly patients should ask their GP to review their treatment regularly.

The results will be used in a national study of pharmaceutical databases to see if the prescriptions of some high-risk drugs can be reduced in the elderly.

Professor Phil Schluter, of the University of Canterbury, was the lead biostatistician of the study, which included scientists from six other universities, including Harvard, John Hopkins and Sydney. It was funded by the government's "Aging Well" National Science Challenge.

Jamieson said New Zealand's leading data set on seniors, called InterRAI, helped this study. InterRAI is a database of the Department of Health on the results of assessments of the health and well-being of elderly New Zealanders. The ministry conducts more than 100,000 InterRAI evaluations each year.

– Things