| Title |
Medication and falls in elderly outpatients: an epidemiological study from a German Pharmacovigilance Network
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
SpringerPlus, August 2014
|
| DOI | 10.1186/2193-1801-3-483 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Kirsten Heckenbach, Thomas Ostermann, Friedemann Schad, Matthias Kröz, Harald Matthes |
| Abstract |
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fall risk increasing drugs (FRIDS) and the risk of falls in regard to fall-related chronic diseases. In total, 39 primary care physicians in Germany participated in the EvaMed Pharmacovigilance Network. Antihypertensives, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hypnotics and sedatives, antidepressants and psycholeptics were labelled as FRIDS. A fall was defined according to a diagnosis in the chapter Injury or poisoning (S00-T14 in International Statistical Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10)). Patients older than or equal to 65 years with at least two doctor's visits were included. FRIDS were prescribed for 1768 patients from a total of 5124 patients included in the analysis. FRIDS and seven chronic diseases were statistically significant associated with a higher risk of experiencing a fall. The risk was highest for patients with a diagnosis abnormalities of gait and mobility, vertigo, visual -impairment and weight loss, and increased by 50-90% with arthritis, diseases of arteries, arterioles and capillaries and heart failure. From patients (N = 425) with at least one diagnosis of fall, 219 patients were prescribed FRIDS. In 100 (45.7%) of cases the diagnoses for fall were made before and in 105 (47.9%) of cases at least a month after the prescription of FRIDS. 14 (6.4%) patients had a prescription of FRIDS and a diagnosis of fall within one month. Perceptual disorders, low walking speed and pain are prominent predictors for falls in the elderly. A prescription of FRIDS selects more vulnerable patients having a higher risk of falls. However, experiencing a fall is mainly due to the disease followed by treatment. Thus, not prescribing FRIDS will avoid only a small number of falls. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profile of 1 X user who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 1 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 69 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 68 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 11 | 16% |
| Student > Master | 10 | 14% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 12% |
| Other | 7 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 6 | 9% |
| Other | 12 | 17% |
| Unknown | 15 | 22% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 20 | 29% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 9 | 13% |
| Psychology | 5 | 7% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 3 | 4% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 11 | 16% |
| Unknown | 19 | 28% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 June 2016.
All research outputs
#20,235,415
of 22,761,738 outputs
Outputs from SpringerPlus
#1,461
of 1,852 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#198,020
of 236,210 outputs
Outputs of similar age from SpringerPlus
#90
of 104 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,761,738 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,852 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.7. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 236,210 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 104 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.