Medication assessment: one determinant of falls risk
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Pennsylvania patient safety advisory
- Contributor(s):
- Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority. ECRI (Organization) Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
- Publication:
- [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, c2008
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Accidental Falls -- statistics & numerical data Drug Monitoring Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions Medication Therapy Management Risk Assessment -- methods Polypharmacy Humans Pennsylvania United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Medication assessment is often absent from falls assessment and reassessment. As a result, patients who are at risk for falls may receive medications that increase falls risk. In 2006, more than 4,000 of the total 33,882 falls reported to PA-PSRS were associated with concomitant use of two or more medications. Seventy percent (23,806) of the falls did not result in any patient harm, and less than 1% (17) indicated deaths associated with falls. Medication classes contributing to fall risk that were most frequently reported to PA-PSRS include anxiolytics/hypnotics, antidepressants, neuroleptics, opioid analgesics/antagonists, and insulin/oral hypoglycemics. Risk reduction strategies include recognizing the problem and involving pharmacy staff in developing medication assessment and reassessment strategies for patients at risk for falls.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. (More information)
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101567384 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101567384