High-risk medications in hospitalized elderly adults: are we making it easy to do the wrong thing?
Falls in hospitalized older adults represent a source of serious preventable patient harm. Although limited evidence supports fall prevention strategies, the use of certain high-risk medications in older adults is known to increase fall risk. Investigators examined 328 falls and found that more than 60% of the older patients who fell had received a high-risk medication in the preceding 24 hours. Furthermore, administered doses and default doses of the high-risk medications listed in the hospital's electronic medical record were often higher than the recommended doses for older patients.