Study: Antipsychotic Drugs Increase Risk of Hip Fracture by 50%
According to a recent study, adults receiving a new prescription of an atypical antipsychotic medication had a 52% heightened risk of falling and displayed an increased risk of non-vertebral osteoporotic fracture by 50%.
For the retrospective study, researchers evaluated the medical records of 195,554 Ontario residents who were given a new prescription for 1 of the following atypical antipsychotics: risperidone, olanzapine, or quetiapine.
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Researchers matched the participants at a 1:1 ratio with other Ontario-based controls who did not receive a new prescription.
Researchers then evaluated the participants’ data over the 90-day period for fracture risk factors to determine fracture and fall outcomes.
The study showed increased rates of hip fracture with the start of antipsychotics (odds ration 1.67). Further, researchers discovered an odds ratio of 1.51 for non-vertebral osteoporotic fractures, and an odds ratio of 1.54 for falls. However, the investigators noted that falling and fracture risks were not associated with the atypical medication used, the dosage of medication, or if the individual resided in a long-term care facility.
Researchers found that compared with 2.9% of controls, falls occurred in 4.4% of those receiving an antipsychotic, while 7.0% of those given antipsychotics had fractures compared to 5.5% of the controls.
“A total of 195,554 individuals were studied. As described previously, matching resulted in 2 well-balanced groups that showed no meaningful differences in 91 measured baseline characteristics,” said the study’s authors.
“ Additional characteristics relating to fracture risk were also well-balanced,” they said.
The complete study is published as a research letter in the January issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
-Michelle Canales
Reference:
Fraser LA, MMath KL, Naylor KL, et al. Falls and fractures with atypical antipsychotic medication use. JAMA Intern Med. 2015 January [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.6930