By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drugs used to treat anxiety disorders or the short-term relief of the symptoms of anxiety, called benzodiazepines, are thought to put older adults at risk of falls, yet these drugs are often prescribed for seniors who already have risk factors for suffering a fall, a new study suggests.

Benzodiazepines are central nervous system depressants that include brand-names like Valium and Xanax. These drugs may increase the risk of falling and suffering a fracture.

In the new study, Canadian researchers found that among more than 250,000 older adults they followed for 5 years, those who already had certain risk factors for falling were actually more likely to be prescribed a benzodiazepine.

For example, patients with depression were 42 percent more likely than those without the disorder to be placed on a benzodiazepine.

(Depression and antidepressant medication can also raise elderly adults' risk of falls.)

Similarly, benzodiazepines were more commonly prescribed to older adults with arthritis or alcohol abuse problems than to those without those disorders.

But the strongest predictor of receiving a benzodiazepine prescription was the use of other medications, particularly antidepressants.

"The strength of the association between previous medication use and new benzodiazepine prescriptions highlights an important medication safety issue," the researchers report in the journal BMC Family Practice.

The findings highlight the importance of patients' being sure all of their doctors know what drugs they are taking.

"All patients should carry a list of what medications they are currently taking -- including dose -- and the reason they are taking them," lead researcher Dr. Gillian Bartlett, of McGill University in Montreal, told Reuters Health.

"This is the information a doctor needs to help make safe prescribing decisions," she explained, adding that having a medication list is also "extremely helpful" if a person ends up in an emergency room or hospital.

In their study, Bartlett and her colleagues found that older adults were more likely to be put on a benzodiazepine after they'd been prescribed another psychotropic medication -- drugs, such as antidepressants or antipsychotics.

Psychotropic medications can, as a side effect, trigger depression-like symptoms such as insomnia. So it's possible, according to the researchers, that some of these patients ended up on a benzodiazepine because of side effects from the original drug -- which could instead be addressed by discontinuing the problematic medication or lowering the dose.

Bartlett suggested that older adults should always ask their doctor why they are being prescribed a benzodiazepine, as well as how long they should expect to take it and whether the doctor has a plan for helping them safely stop taking the drug, which causes physical and psychological dependence after chronic use.

SOURCE: BMC Family Practice, online January 6, 2009.

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