Psychoactive drug use and falls among community-dwelling Turkish older people

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Data on the relationship between fall and psychoactive drug use among Turkish older people are limited. Thisstudy aims to investigate the prevalence of falls and the associations between psychoactive drug use and falls in communitydwelling Turkish older people.METHODS: This single center study was performed using the medical records of subjects aged over 65 years admitted tothe geriatric care unit. Demographic and lifestyle factors, clinical characteristics, medications, and data on mood, cognitivestatus, and functional performance were obtained from the comprehensive geriatric assessment records. Based on a fallhistory in the last 12 months, subjects were grouped as fallers and non-fallers. Subjects treated with a psychoactive drugwere identified.RESULTS: Among the total of 429 subjects, there were 184 (42.9%) fallers and 245 (57.1%) non-fallers. Of those, 33.3%were on psychoactive drug treatment. The proportion of psychoactive drug users was higher in the fallers group comparedto non-fallers (45.1% vs. 24.5%, p