Atypical Antipsychotic Use Is Associated with Risk for Falls and Fractures in Elders

Antipsychotic medications, often used inappropriately for managing dementia and behavioral disturbances in nursing home residents, have been linked to fractures in elders; whether this association encompasses newer atypical antipsychotics is less clear. To examine this issue, researchers used linked Canadian administrative and healthcare databases to study almost 98,000 older patients (age, ≥65; mean age, 81; 24% in long-term care facilities; 54% with dementia) who received new outpatient prescriptions for atypical antipsychotic drugs (quetiapine, risperidone, or olanzapine); these patients were matched on 91 clinical and demographic factors with an equal number of patients who did not receive such prescriptions.

During 90 days of follow-up,…