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Commentary on: Torvinen-Kiiskinen S, Tolppanen AM, Koponen M, et al. Antidepressant use and risk of hip fractures among community-dwelling persons with and without Alzheimer's disease. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2017. doi: 10.1002/gps.4667. [Epub ahead of print].
Implications for practice and research
Healthcare professionals need to be aware of the potential increased risk of injury for patients when planning treatments, particularly for patients presenting with multiple risk factors for falls.
Future research should focus on establishing the severity of symptoms that antidepressants are used for in addition to a hip fracture event rate to ensure a balanced picture for determining treatment options.
Context
In 2011 there were 9.2 million people aged 65 years or over in England and Wales, an increase of 1 million since 20011 and a figure which continues to rise. This increasing ageing population will inevitably bring healthcare challenges.
One such challenge is the rise in dementia including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The prevalence of AD in the UK …
Footnotes
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.