Citation

Seppala LJ, van der Velde N, Masud T, Blain H, Petrovic M, van der Cammen TJ, Szczerbińska K, Hartikainen S, Kenny RA, Ryg J, Eklund P, Topinková E, Mair A, Laflamme L, Thaler H, Bahat G, Gutiérrez-Valencia M, Caballero-Mora MA, Landi F, Emmelot-Vonk MH, Cherubini A, Baeyens JP, Correa-Pérez A, Gudmundsson A, Marengoni A, O'Mahony D, Parekh N, Pisa FE, Rajkumar C, Wehling M, Ziere G. Drugs Aging 2019; 36(4): 299-307.

Affiliation

Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Adis International)

DOI

10.1007/s40266-018-0622-7

PMID

30741371

Abstract

Falls are a major public health concern in the older population, and certain medication classes are a significant risk factor for falls. However, knowledge is lacking among both physicians and older people, including caregivers, concerning the role of medication as a risk factor. In the present statement, the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Task and Finish group on fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs), in collaboration with the EuGMS Special Interest group on Pharmacology and the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) Geriatric Medicine Section, outlines its position regarding knowledge dissemination on medication-related falls in older people across Europe. The EuGMS Task and Finish group is developing educational materials to facilitate knowledge dissemination for healthcare professionals and older people. In addition, steps in primary prevention through judicious prescribing, deprescribing of FRIDs (withdrawal and dose reduction), and gaps in current research are outlined in this position paper.

Language: en