Observational studyThe Annals of pharmacotherapy2015
Anticholinergic Use and Recurrent Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Findings From the Health ABC Study.
Observational study in The Annals of pharmacotherapy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Quantifying Anticholinergic Burden and Sedative Load in Older Adults with Polypharmacy: A Systematic Review of Risk Scales and Models.Drugs & aging · 2021Pooled it
- Association between anticholinergic (atropinic) drug exposure and cognitive function in longitudinal studies among individuals over 50 years old: a systematic review.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Pooled it
- The Association Between Overactive Bladder and Falls and Fractures: A Systematic Review.Advances in therapy · 2018Pooled it
- Medications and Prescribing Patterns as Factors Associated with Hospitalizations from Long-Term Care Facilities: A Systematic Review.Drugs & aging · 2018Pooled it
- Anticholinergic medication use and falls in postmenopausal women: findings from the women's health initiative cohort study.BMC geriatrics · 2016Trial
- Fall-Risk-Increasing drugs and falls in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study in a single Danish municipality.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Clinical and geriatric factors associated with fracture risk in older adults with bone metastases: A prospective observational study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Observational
- Association Between Anticholinergic Burden and Dry Mouth Severity in Acutely Ill Older Adults.Drugs & aging · 2026Article
- The Use of Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs) in Older Adults Receiving Multidose Drug Dispensing; Interactions, Anticholinergic and Fall-Risk Increasing Drugs.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Anticholinergic burden and its predictors among patients with schizophrenia in Northwest Ethiopia: An institutional-based cross sectional study.Therapeutic advances in psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Changes in anticholinergic cognitive burden and risk of single and recurrent falls: population-based cohort study.Age and ageing · 2025Article
- Factors associated with fall risk increasing drug use in older black and white men and women: the Health ABC Study.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Central nervous system medication use around hospitalization.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2024Article
- Trauma in the elderly: a bilateral rectus sheath haematoma.BMJ case reports · 2023Article
- Medications influencing the risk of fall-related injuries in older adults: case-control and case-crossover design studies.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Deprescribing anticholinergics in primary care older adults: Experience from two models and impact on a continuous measure of exposure.Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy : JACCP · 2022Article
- Anticholinergic Medication Use, Dopaminergic Genotype, and Recurrent Falls.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2022Article
- Persistent polypharmacy and fall injury risk: the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.BMC geriatrics · 2021Article
- Relationships Between Level and Change in Sarcopenia and Other Body Composition Components and Adverse Health Outcomes: Findings from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.Calcified tissue international · 2021Article
- Fall/Fracture-Related Healthcare Costs and Their Association with Cumulative Anticholinergic Burden in People with Overactive Bladder.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough it is generally accepted that anticholinergic use may lead to a fall, results from studies assessing the association between anticholinergic use and falls are mixed. In addition, direct evidence of an association between use of anticholinergic medications and recurrent falls among community-dwelling elders is not available.
objectiveTo assess the association between anticholinergic use across multiple anticholinergic subclasses, including over-the-counter medications, and recurrent falls.
methodsThis was a longitudinal analysis of 2948 participants, with data collected via interview at year 1 from the Health, Aging and Body Composition study and followed through year 7 (1997-2004). Self-reported use of anticholinergic medication was identified at years 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 as defined by the list from the 2015 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria. Dosage and duration were also examined. The main outcome was recurrent falls (≥2) in an ensuing 12-month period from each medication data collection.
resultsUsing multivariable generalized estimating equation models, controlling for demographic, health status/behaviors, and access-to-care factors, a 34% increase in likelihood of recurrent falls in anticholinergic users (adjusted odds ratio = 1.34; 95% CI = 0.93-1.93) was observed, but the results were not statistically significant; similar results were found with higher doses and longer duration of use.
conclusionIncreased point estimates suggest an association of anticholinergic use with recurrent falls, but the associations did not reach statistical significance. Future studies are needed for more definitive evidence and to examine other measures of anticholinergic burden and associations with more intermediate adverse effects such as cognitive function.
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