Scoping review of medication-related risk factors for falls in older adults
- VernacularTitle:老年人跌倒的药物相关风险因素的范围综述
- Author:
Liyu QIN
1
;
Xufeng LONG
1
;
Hongya CAO
1
;
Keyuan LIANG
1
;
Mingmei HUANG
1
;
Hongliang ZHANG
1
Author Information
1. Dept. of Pharmacy，the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University，Nanning 530021，China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
older adults;
falls;
risk factors;
polypharmacy;
scoping review
- From:
China Pharmacy
2026;37(7):960-964
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To systematically review medication-related risk factors for falls in older adults， to provide references for ensuring medication safety among older adults. METHODS A systematic search was conducted in PubMed， Embase， Web of Science， and CNKI for relevant literature published from database inception to November 1， 2025. Relevant studies on medication-related falls in older adults， both domestic and international， were included. Drug factors influencing falls in older adults were summarized and analyzed. RESULTS A total of 22 studies were included. Four major classes of fall-risk-increasing drugs were identified： psychotropic medications [12 studies， odds ratio （OR） range 1.500-5.790]， cardiovascular system drugs （5 studies， OR range 1.236-4.784）， analgesics （3 studies， OR range 1.500-4.490）， and hypoglycemic agents （3 studies， OR range 2.070-2.751）. Additionally， anticholinergic burden （1 study， OR was 2.610） and polypharmacy （7 studies， OR range 2.902-25.897 for the use of ≥4 medications） were identified as significant risk factors for falls. CONCLUSIONS Falls in older adults are significantly associated with psychotropic medications， cardiovascular system drugs， analgesics， and hypoglycemic agents， among which psychotropic medications pose the highest risk. Anticholinergic burden and polypharmacy are also important risk factors. In clinical practice， interventions should be implemented through deprescribing and risk monitoring to effectively reduce the risk of falls in older adults.
