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Review
. 2011 Mar;23(2):329-46.
doi: 10.1177/0898264310381277. Epub 2010 Oct 14.

Psychotropic drugs and falls in the elderly people: updated literature review and meta-analysis

Frédéric Bloch  1 , Marie Thibaud, Benoit Dugué, Cyril Brèque, Anne-Sophie Rigaud, Gilles Kemoun
Affiliations
Review

Psychotropic drugs and falls in the elderly people: updated literature review and meta-analysis

Frédéric Bloch et al. J Aging Health. 2011 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To carry out meta-analyses on psychotropic drugs and to provide an update of the risk of falling in the elderly people related to psychotropic drugs.

Design: Meta-analyses of studies on psychotropic drugs.

Results: 177 studies are included, of which 71 have data on risk factors associated with psychotropic drugs. The odds ratio and 95% Cl for associations between use of psychotropic drugs and fall are 1.78 and 1.57-2.01, respectively. This result is statistically heterogeneous. This heterogeneity disappears in the group of very old participants for each class.

Conclusion: Our study confirms the association between falls in the elderly people and psychotropic drugs. These results are similar to those of former meta-analyses but with different methods. It shows that these meta-analyses on psychotropic drugs have a small impact on prescribing habits. They only give evidence to support the association between psychotropic drugs and falls even if there is no proven link.

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