The Study: Polypharmacy correlates with increased risk for hip fracture in the elderly: a population-based study.

The Facts:
a. Hip fracture is an important public health issue.
b. The authors looked at the insurance claims of 2328 elderly patients in Taiwan who had previously suffered a hip fracture.
c. They sought to see if hip fractures in this group were related to taking more medications.
d. They knew that polypharmacy (the use of multiple medications) had been previously shown to be a risk factor for falling in elderly individuals and that 73 to 90% of hip fractures were the result of a fall in elderly individuals.
e. The odds ratio for hip fracture was found to increase with both the number of medications used on a daily basis and age.
f. Regression analysis was used to account for the effect of sex and age and the authors concluded that “hip fracture risk in older people increases with the number of medications used, especially in women.”

Take Home:
With increasing medication intake elderly people have a greater risk of the serious problem of hip fracture.

Reviewer’s Comments:
We are all affected by the passing of the years. We know that we need to make an effort to eat correctly and exercise appropriately but as we get older that becomes harder. As more and more conditions afflict the elderly they tend to take more medication. But as everyone knows, medications come with the risk of side effects. Here is just one unintended consequence of multiple medications.

Reviewer: Roger Coleman DC

Reference: Lai SW, Liao KF, Liao CC, Muo CH, Liu CS, Sung FC. Polypharmacy correlates with increased risk for hip fracture in the elderly: a population-based study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2010;89:295-9

PubMed Abstract:  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20827106