Psychotropic Drug Use and the Risk of Hip Fracture

Abstract

To assess the risk of hip fracture associated with the use of four classes of psychotropic drugs, we performed a case-control study of 1021 patients with hip fractures and 5606 controls among elderly Medicaid enrollees. Persons treated with hypnotics–anxiolytics having short (≤24 hours) elimination half-lives had no increased risk of hip fracture. By contrast, a significantly increased risk was associated with current use of hypnotics–anxiolytics having long (>24 hours) elimination half-lives (odds ratio, 1.8; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 2.4), tricyclic antidepressants (odds ratio, 1.9; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 2.8), and antipsychotics (odds ratio, 2.0; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.6 to 2.6).