Giving fewer sleeping pills and selectively restrainingsome residents could produce far fewer resident falls, according to a newreport out of Sweden.
Sleeping pills with benzodiazepines (sedatives) madestudy subjects 2.9 times more likely to fall, antipsychotic drugs(neuroleptics) made them 1.9 times more likely, and sleeping pills andantidepressants made them 1.4 times more likely to fall, scientists led by theKarolinska Institutet learned. They analyzed 2,343 reported falls and fracturesat 21 nursing home units over a four-year period.
While urging caution and medical necessity in usingrestraints, researchers said the devices put study subjects significantly belowa base 1.0 falls risk. Bed rails dropped the risk to 0.5, while, individuals inwheelchairs (who had been assessed as a fall risk) registered 0.7.
“Our results suggests that freedom-restrictingactions cannot eliminate falls totally, but they might be protective when usedselectively with fewer sedatives, especially benzodiazepines,” saidresearcher Edit Fonad in this month’s issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.
