Medication Use, Falls, and Fall-Related Worry in Older Adults in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of falls and fall-related concerns of medication users versus nonusers in U.S. seniors.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: The National Health and Aging Trends Study.

PARTICIPANTS: U.S. nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries in 2011.

OUTCOMES: Comparing subjects who used medications with subjects who did not in the past month, the outcomes were percentages of subjects who experienced 1) a fall in the past month, 2) worry about falling in the past month, 3) being limited by this worry in the past month, 4) a fall in the past year.

RESULTS: A greater percentage of medication users experienced falls and fall-related outcomes, compared with non-medication users. Among medication users, 10.29% had a past month fall, compared with 5.42% of non-medication users; 27.69% of medication users worried in the past month about falling, compared with 9.15% of non-medication users; 40.96% of medication users were limited by this worry, compared with 21.21%; 22.82% of medication users had a fall in the past year, compared with 13.15% of non-medication users.

CONCLUSION: Seniors who use medications are more likely to fall and to be concerned about falling. Pharmacist involvement in fall prevention continues to be essential.