Drug Use Evaluation Among Elderly Patients With History of Falling in Geriatric Assessment Clinic, Ramathibodi Hospital

Background: Drug use evaluation as an intervention approach for fall prevention has an effect on most drug-related outcomes. Geriatric assessment clinic provides comprehensive care in elderly patients. All prescribed or non-prescribed medications were evaluated by pharmacists. Objective: To study the drug and drug-related problem among elderly patients with history of falling. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of elderly patients with history of fallings. Demographic data, health information, history of falls, and drugs use evaluation were obtained from their medical records in year 2010 to 2020. Linear regression model was used to examine the multivariate correlates to number of fallings. Results: A total of 183 patients with history of falling were studied. Of this, 97 had recurrent falls. Most patients (77%) had more than 5 underlying diseases and over half (55%) had dementia. Drug-related problem were found 69.4%, 4 in 5 of patients used 5 types of the medications or more. The diabetes drugs were found to increase risk of recurrent falls significantly (OR [95% CI], 2.11 [1.03 - 4.33]; P < .05). Conclusions: Most elderly patient with history of falling have drug-related problem (69.4%) and multiple morbidities including dementia. The diabetes drugs were 2 times significantly increased risk of recurrent falls. This study highlights the important of drugs management in this vulnerable group of elderly patients.