Frailty
People living with frailty are at increased risk of adverse events including hospitalisation, nursing home admission and death.
Around a third of people aged 65 and over, and around half of people aged 80 and over, fall at least once a year.
If you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, a simple fall can cause a broken bone.
More than 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men will sustain one or more osteoporotic fractures in their lifetime.
Hip fracture nearly always require hospitalisation, is fatal in 20% of cases and permanently disables 50% of those affected and only 30% go on to make a full recovery.
Falls prevention -
Deprescribe fall-risk-increasing drugs e.g. opioids, benzodiazepines and antihypertensives, antipsychotics, antidepressants if appropriate.
Fracture prevention -
Prescribe bone sparing agents for people at high risk e.g. patients with previous fracture, a diagnosis of osteoporosis and osteopenia, prescribed steroids (7.5mg prednisolone or equivalent per day for 3 months or longer) and aromatase inhibitors.
Prescribing Guidelines by Clinical Area
