Dataset Information

Association Between Medications Acting on the Central Nervous System and Fall-Related Injuries in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A New User Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:It is well established that individual medications that affect the central nervous system (CNS) increase falls risk in older adults. However, less is known about risks associated with taking multiple CNS-active medications. METHODS:Employing a new user design, we used data from the Adult Changes in Thought study, a prospective cohort of community-dwelling people aged 65 and older without dementia. We created a time-varying composite measure of CNS-active medication exposure from electronic pharmacy fill data and categorized into mutually exclusive categories: current (within prior 30 days), recent (31-90 days), past (91-365 days), or nonuse (no exposure in prior year). We calculated standardized daily dose and identified new initiation. Cox proportional hazards models examined the associations between exposures and the outcome of fall-related injury identified from health plan electronic databases. RESULTS:Two thousand five hundred ninety-five people had 624 fall-related injuries over 15,531 person-years of follow-up. Relative to nonuse, fall-related injury risk was significantly greater for current use of CNS-active medication (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.95; 95% CI = 1.57-2.42), but not for recent or past use. Among current users, increased risk was noted with all doses. Risk was increased for new initiation compared with no current use (HR = 2.81; 95% CI = 2.09-3.78). Post hoc analyses revealed that risk was especially elevated with new initiation of opioids. CONCLUSIONS:We found that current use, especially new initiation, of CNS-active medications was associated with fall-related injury in community-dwelling older adults. Increased risk was noted with all dose categories. Risk was particularly increased with new initiation of opioids.

SUBMITTER: Gray SL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7164522 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Association Between Medications Acting on the Central Nervous System and Fall-Related Injuries in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A New User Cohort Study.

Gray Shelly L SL Marcum Zachary A ZA Dublin Sascha S Walker Rod R Golchin Negar N Rosenberg Dori E DE Bowles Erin J EJ Crane Paul P Larson Eric B EB

The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences 20200401 5

<h4>Background</h4>It is well established that individual medications that affect the central nervous system (CNS) increase falls risk in older adults. However, less is known about risks associated with taking multiple CNS-active medications.<h4>Methods</h4>Employing a new user design, we used data from the Adult Changes in Thought study, a prospective cohort of community-dwelling people aged 65 and older without dementia. We created a time-varying composite measure of CNS-active medication expo ...[more]

PMID: 31755896

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Project description:ImportanceHigh-risk medications that contribute to adverse health outcomes are frequently prescribed to older adults. Deprescribing interventions reduce their use, but studies are often not designed to examine effects on patient-relevant health outcomes.ObjectiveTo test the effect of a health system-embedded deprescribing intervention targeting older adults and their primary care clinicians for reducing the use of central nervous system-active drugs and preventing medically treated falls.Design, setting, and participantsIn this cluster randomized, parallel-group, clinical trial, 18 primary care practices from an integrated health care delivery system in Washington state were recruited from April 1, 2021, to June 16, 2022, to participate, along with their eligible patients. Randomization occurred at the clinic level. Patients were community-dwelling adults aged 60 years or older, prescribed at least 1 medication from any of 5 targeted medication classes (opioids, sedative-hypnotics, skeletal muscle relaxants, tricyclic antidepressants, and first-generation antihistamines) for at least 3 consecutive months.InterventionPatient education and clinician decision support. Control arm participants received usual care.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was medically treated falls. Secondary outcomes included medication discontinuation, sustained medication discontinuation, and dose reduction of any and each target medication. Serious adverse drug withdrawal events involving opioids or sedative-hypnotics were the main safety outcome. Analyses were conducted using intent-to-treat analysis.ResultsAmong 2367 patient participants (mean [SD] age, 70.6 [7.6] years; 1488 women [63%]), the adjusted cumulative incidence rate of a first medically treated fall at 18 months was 0.33 (95% CI, 0.29-0.37) in the intervention group and 0.30 (95% CI, 0.27-0.34) in the usual care group (estimated adjusted hazard ratio, 1.11 (95% CI, 0.94-1.31) (P = .11). There were significant differences favoring the intervention group in discontinuation, sustained discontinuation, and dose reduction of tricyclic antidepressants at 6 months (discontinuation adjusted rate: intervention group, 0.23 [95% CI, 0.18-0.28] vs usual care group, 0.13 [95% CI, 0.09-0.17]; adjusted relative risk, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.29-2.50]; P = .001) and secondary time points (9, 12, and 15 months).Conclusions and relevanceIn this randomized clinical trial of a health system-embedded deprescribing intervention targeting community-dwelling older adults prescribed central nervous system-active medications and their primary care clinicians, the intervention was no more effective than usual care in reducing medically treated falls. For health systems that attend to deprescribing as part of routine clinical practice, additional interventions may confer modest benefits on prescribing without a measurable effect on clinical outcomes.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05689554.

Project description:IntroductionFall rates and fall-related injuries among community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years) are expected to increase rapidly, due to the aging population worldwide. Fall prevention programs (FPPs), consisting of strength and balance exercises, have been proven effective in reducing fall rates among older adults. However, these FPPs have not reached their full potential as most programs are under-enrolled. Therefore, this study aims to identify promising strategies that promote participation in FPPs among community-dwelling older adults.MethodsThis is an exploratory qualitative study. Previously, barriers and facilitators for participation in FPPs by older adults had been identified. Next, six strategies had been designed using the Intervention Mapping approach: (1) reframing; (2) informing about benefits; (3) raising awareness of risks; (4) involving social environment; (5) offering tailored intervention; (6) arranging practicalities. Strategies were validated during semi-structured interviews with community-dwelling older adults (n = 12) at risk of falling. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed following a qualitative thematic methodology, with a hybrid approach.ResultsAll strategies were considered important by at least some of the respondents. However, two strategies stood out: (1) reframing 'aging' and 'fall prevention': respondents preferred to be approached differently, taking a 'life course' perspective about falls, and avoiding confronting words; and (2) 'informing about benefits' (e.g., 'living independently for longer'); which was mentioned to improve the understanding of the relevance of participating in FPPs. Other strategies were considered important to take into account too, but opinions varied more strongly.DiscussionThis study provides insight into potential strategies to stimulate older adults to participate in FPPs. Results suggest that reframing 'aging' and 'fall prevention' may facilitate the dialogue about fall prevention, by communicating differently about the topic, for example 'staying fit and healthy', while focusing on the benefits of participating in FPPs. Gaining insight into the strategies' effectiveness and working mechanisms is an area for future research. This could lead to practical recommendations and help professionals to enhance older adults' participation in FPPs. Currently, the strategies are further developed to be applied and evaluated for effectiveness in multiple field labs in a central Dutch region (Utrecht).

Project description:ObjectiveTo determine whether, and to what extent, fall prevention exercise interventions for older community dwelling people are effective in preventing different types of fall related injuries.Data sourcesElectronic databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and CINAHL) and reference lists of included studies and relevant reviews from inception to July 2013.Study selectionRandomised controlled trials of fall prevention exercise interventions, targeting older (>60 years) community dwelling people and providing quantitative data on injurious falls, serious falls, or fall related fractures.Data synthesisBased on a systematic review of the case definitions used in the selected studies, we grouped the definitions of injurious falls into more homogeneous categories to allow comparisons of results across studies and the pooling of data. For each study we extracted or calculated the rate ratio of injurious falls. Depending on the available data, a given study could contribute data relevant to one or more categories of injurious falls. A pooled rate ratio was estimated for each category of injurious falls based on random effects models.Results17 trials involving 4305 participants were eligible for meta-analysis. Four categories of falls were identified: all injurious falls, falls resulting in medical care, severe injurious falls, and falls resulting in fractures. Exercise had a significant effect in all categories, with pooled estimates of the rate ratios of 0.63 (95% confidence interval 0.51 to 0.77, 10 trials) for all injurious falls, 0.70 (0.54 to 0.92, 8 trials) for falls resulting in medical care, 0.57 (0.36 to 0.90, 7 trials) for severe injurious falls, and 0.39 (0.22 to 0.66, 6 trials) for falls resulting in fractures, but significant heterogeneity was observed between studies of all injurious falls (I(2)=50%, P=0.04).ConclusionsExercise programmes designed to prevent falls in older adults also seem to prevent injuries caused by falls, including the most severe ones. Such programmes also reduce the rate of falls leading to medical care.

Dataset Information

Association Between Medications Acting on the Central Nervous System and Fall-Related Injuries in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A New User Cohort Study.

Publications

Association Between Medications Acting on the Central Nervous System and Fall-Related Injuries in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A New User Cohort Study.

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