Which medicines should be considered?

Various medicines have been identified as being associated with an increased risk of falling in older people. In systematic reviews medicines associated with falls are those acting on: the central nervous system (e.g. benzodiazepines, opioids, sedatives), the cardiovascular system (e.g. antihypertensives), medicines for diabetes, and many others have been associated with falls. Evidence on the outcome of reducing medicines associated with falls is limited. It is recognised that reducing or stopping many of these medicines can be challenging, and future studies are required in this area.

The recommendation box below sets out the recommendations on reviewing the evidence, and a considered judgment process.

Recommendations for medication reviews to reduce falls (Based on five SRs of varying quality, which reported mixed evidence of the risk of prescribing potentially inappropriate medication)^{85, 111, 112, 113, 114}