Recent European studies found that nursing home patients with dementia who are prescribed antidepressants have a significantly increased risk of having a slip and fall accident. This new information may be something for Milwaukee residents who have loved ones in an assisted living facility to take note of.

Researchers in the Netherlands analyzed the number of falls among elderly people with dementia between Jan. 1, 2006, and Jan. 1, 2008. They found nursing home residents taking antidepressants were three times more likely to have a fall that resulted in injury than those who did not take antidepressants.

For example, an 80-year-old woman taking an antidepressant has a 0.28 percent chance of falling on any given day, the study found. In comparison, an 80-year-old woman who does not take the medications only has a 0.09 percent chance of falling on any given day.

English researchers found a similar link between antidepressants and falls, according to a study published this month in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

The study's lead author said patients given sleeping pills in addition to antidepressants had an even greater chance of falling. The study notes that falls are a serious concern for nursing home residents who have dementia. Such falls result in injury to the patient a third of the time.

The author suggests nursing home staff members consider changing nursing home protocols to address the increased risk of falls when patients are taking antidepressants.

In the Netherlands study, researchers looked at 248 nursing home residents with dementia. More than 60 percent of the residents had at least one fall during the time of the study. Of the 152 residents who experienced falls, 114 of them had frequent falls.

Together, the 152 residents reportedly fell down a total of 683 times during the time period the researchers studied. Nearly a third of the falls (220) resulted in the resident being injured or dying.

Source: USA Today, "Antidepressants may raise fall risk in nursing homes," HealthDay, Jan. 20, 2012