ReviewEuropean geriatric medicine2021
Depression, antidepressants and fall risk: therapeutic dilemmas-a clinical review.
Review in European geriatric medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 57 papers, 5 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
57 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 103 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and Predictors of Depressive Symptom Trajectories in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled it
- Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models for Predicting Future Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Evidence.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of traditional Chinese mind-body exercises on depressive symptoms in middle-aged and older adults: a multilevel meta-analysis with exploratory dose-response and machine learning analyses.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Discontinuing antidepressant medication: a qualitative evidence synthesis and logic model based on health professionals' views.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Falls in older adults: a practical approach.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2022Pooled it
- Trial
- A Pilot Randomized Trial of a Program to Prevent Falls Among Community-Dwelling Adults Living with Mental Illness Demonstrates Feasibility.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingTrial
- Exposure to Drugs Related to Injurious Falls Risk and to Bisphosphonates in Nursing Home Residents With Recent Fracture.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2026Article
- From depression to bone health: examining the skeletal effects of classical and rapid-acting antidepressants.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Sleep Quality and Falls Risk in the ELSA Study: A Cross-Sectional and Prospective Cohort Study.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- A survey of community pharmacists perspectives on monitoring antidepressant adverse events.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Article
- Ten tips on how to prevent falls in dialysis patients.Clinical kidney journal · 2026Review
- The combined association of STOPPFall medication use and orthostatic blood pressure abnormalities with future falls and fractures in community-dwelling older people.European geriatric medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Association of depressive symptoms, gait and dynamic balance with risk of falling in older adults discharged from the emergency department after a fall: a prospective observational study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Observational
- Frailty Through a One Health Lens: Biological Sex, Mental Health, and Oral Function in Physically Active Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Observational
- Machine learning-based prediction model for fall risk among individuals with arthritis in China: an analysis using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) database.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
- "From the moment I started standing again, I was worried about falls": fear of falling in intensive care unit survivors over 12 months.Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2026Article
- Prevalence, Predictors, and Prognosis of Depression After Transient Ischemic Attack: A Population-Based Study.Stroke · 2026Article
- Phytochemical Profiling and Neuropharmacological Evaluation of Baccaurea motleyana Bark Extract: In Vivo and In Silico Approaches.TheScientificWorldJournal · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe aim of this clinical review was to summarize the existing knowledge on fall risk associated with antidepressant use in older adults, describe underlying mechanisms, and assist clinicians in decision-making with regard to (de-) prescribing antidepressants in older persons. METHODOLOGY: We comprehensively examined the literature based on a literature search in Pubmed and Google Scholar, and identified additional relevant articles from reference lists, with an emphasis on the most commonly prescribed drugs in depression in geriatric patients. We discuss use of antidepressants, potential fall-related side effects, and deprescribing of antidepressants in older persons.
resultsUntreated depression and antidepressant use both contribute to fall risk. Antidepressants are equally effective, but differ in fall-related side effect profile. They contribute to (or cause) falling through orthostatic hypotension, sedation/impaired attention, hyponatremia, movement disorder and cardiac toxicity. Falling is an important driver of morbidity and mortality and, therefore, requires prevention. If clinical condition allows, withdrawal of antidepressants is recommended in fall-prone elderly persons. An important barrier is reluctance of prescribers to deprescribe antidepressants resulting from fear of withdrawal symptoms or disease relapse/recurrence, and the level of complexity of deprescribing antidepressants in older persons with multiple comorbidities and medications. Practical resources and algorithms are available that guide and assist clinicians in deprescribing antidepressants.
conclusions(De-) prescribing antidepressants in fall-prone older adults is often challenging, but detailed insight in fall-related side effect profile of the different antidepressants and a recently developed expert-based decision aid STOPPFalls assists prescribers in clinical decision-making.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.