EuGMS Task and Finish group on Fall-Risk-Increasing Drugs (FRIDs): Position on Knowledge Dissemination, Management, and Future Research

• Published in: Drugs & aging 2019-04, Vol.36 (4), p.299-307
• Main Authors: Seppala, L. J., van der Velde, N., Masud, T., Blain, H., Petrovic, M., van der Cammen, T. J., Szczerbińska, K., Hartikainen, S., Kenny, R. A., Ryg, J., Eklund, P., Topinková, E., Mair, A., Laflamme, L., Thaler, H., Bahat, G., Gutiérrez-Valencia, M., Caballero-Mora, MA, Landi, F., Emmelot-Vonk, M. H., Cherubini, A., Baeyens, J. P., Correa-Pérez, A., Gudmundsson, A., Marengoni, A., O’Mahony, D., Parekh, N., Pisa, F. E., Rajkumar, C., Wehling, M., Ziere, G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accident prevention; Accidental Falls/prevention Age Factors; Aging; Analgesics, Opioid/adverse effects; Anticonvulsants/adverse effects; Caregivers; Clinical trials; Collaboration; Current Opinion; Diuretics; Drug dosages; Falls; Family physicians; Fractures; Geriatrics; Geriatrics/Gerontology; Geriatrics/methods; Geriatry and gerontology; Health care; Health risks; Human health and pathology; Injuries; Internal Medicine; Knowledge; Life Sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Older people; Pharmaceutical sciences; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Pharmacotherapy; Prescription drugs; Psychotropic drugs; Psychotropic Drugs/adverse effects; Public health; Risk factors; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Sodium Potassium Chloride Symporter Inhibitors/adverse effects
• ISSN: 1170-229X; 1179-1969; 1179-1969
• DOI: 10.1007/s40266-018-0622-7

Falls are a major public health concern in the older population, and certain medication classes are a significant risk factor for falls. However, knowledge is lacking among both physicians and older people, including caregivers, concerning the role of medication as a risk factor. In the present statement, the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS) Task and Finish group on fall-risk-increasing drugs (FRIDs), in collaboration with the EuGMS Special Interest group on Pharmacology and the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) Geriatric Medicine Section, outlines its position regarding knowledge dissemination on medication-related falls in older people across Europe. The EuGMS Task and Finish group is developing educational materials to facilitate knowledge dissemination for healthcare professionals and older people. In addition, steps in primary prevention through judicious prescribing, deprescribing of FRIDs (withdrawal and dose reduction), and gaps in current research are outlined in this position paper.