Medications and fall-related fractures in the elderly.
OBJECTIVE
This article examines associations between the use of selected medications and fall-related fractures in the household population aged 65 or older.


METHODS
The analysis was based on cross-sectional data from the household component of the 1996/97 cycle of the National Population Health Survey. Data were from a sample of 13,363 respondents aged 65 or older.


METHODS
Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses were used to study cross-sectional associations between selected medications used in the previous month and fractures occurring in the previous year. Multiple logistic regression analyses controlled for potentially confounding factors.


RESULTS
Among elderly individuals who sustained any activity-limiting injury in 1996/97, an estimated 65,000 reported the most serious such injury had been a fall-related fracture. The odds of a fall-related fracture were significantly low among people who were taking diuretics/antihypertensives. Arthritis and urinary incontinence were positively associated with fall-related fractures.
Wilkins
K
K
Health Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa K1A 0T6. wilkkat@statcan.ca
D000058:Accidental Falls; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001168:Arthritis / Q000150:complications; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000150:complications
D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations