Medication assessment : one determinant of falls risk Pennsylvania patient safety advisory Accidental Falls -- statistics & numerical data Drug Monitoring Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions Medication Therapy Management Risk Assessment -- methods Medication assessment is often absent from falls assessment and reassessment. As a result, patients who are at risk for falls may receive medications that increase falls risk. In 2006, more than 4,000 of the total 33,882 falls reported to PA-PSRS were associated with concomitant use of two or more medications. Seventy percent (23,806) of the falls did not result in any patient harm, and less than 1% (17) indicated deaths associated with falls. Medication classes contributing to fall risk that were most frequently reported to PA-PSRS include anxiolytics/hypnotics, antidepressants, neuroleptics, opioid analgesics/antagonists, and insulin/oral hypoglycemics. Risk reduction strategies include recognizing the problem and involving pharmacy staff in developing medication assessment and reassessment strategies for patients at risk for falls. [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, c2008 Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority. ECRI (Organization) Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Technical Report Text nlm:nlmuid-101567384-pdf 101567384 http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101567384 English Pennsylvania United States Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-DC license. h ttps://creativecommons.org/licences/by-nc-nd/3.0