Fall-Risk-Increasing drugs and falls in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study in a single Danish municipality.

Authors

Thorbjørn Irskov Mortensen, Gustav Valentin Gade, Martin Grønbech Jørgensen, Lotta Seppala, Nathalie van der Velde, Tahir Masud, Jesper Ryg

Published in

European geriatric medicine. Aug 12, 2026. Epub Aug 12, 2026.

Abstract

Fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs) are a significant and modifiable risk factor for falls in older adults. However, prospective data using robust fall ascertainment on specific FRID classes are scarce in community-dwelling populations. We aimed to investigate the association between individual FRID classes and both single and recurrent falls in older community-dwelling adults.
We analysed data from a Danish prospective cohort of 241 community-dwelling adults aged ≥ 75 years. Medication records were collected at baseline, and drugs were classified using the STOPPFall consensus FRIDs list. Falls were recorded prospectively for 1 year using monthly fall-calendars, verified using telephone follow-ups. Associations between FRIDs and one-time (1 fall) and recurrent falls (≥ 2 falls) were explored using Cox proportional hazards model, adjusting for clinical and sociodemographic factors.
The median (IQR) age was 82 (80, 86) years, 66.4% were women, and 43.6% had a positive fall history. Prevalences of polypharmacy and use of any FRID were 70.5% and 73.9%, respectively. During follow-up, 88 participants (36.5%) fell at least once while 41 participants (17.0%) fell twice or more. The total number of FRIDs was not associated with falls. Baseline use of benzodiazepine-related drugs, strong anticholinergics, and antiepileptics were significantly associated with recurrent falls in the fully adjusted analyses with hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 3.34 (1.28-8.75), 2.48 (1.04-5.89), and 4.78 (1.24-18.35), respectively.
Several specific FRID classes were significantly associated with recurrent falls in this cohort of well-functioning community-dwelling adults, highlighting the importance of targeted medication review and careful prescribing strategies.

PMID:
42584792
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Aug 2026.

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