Medication Review in Preventing Older Adults’ Fall-Related Injury: a Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND: Medication review is essential in managing adverse drug reactions and improving drug safety in older adults. This systematic review evaluated medication review’s role as a single intervention or combined with other interventions in preventing fall-related injuries in older adults. METHODS: Electronic databases search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and CINAHL. Two reviewers screened titles and abstracts, reviewed full texts, and performed data extraction and risk of bias assessment. Meta-analyses were conducted on studies with similar participants, interventions, outcomes or settings. RESULTS: Fourteen randomized, controlled studies were included. The pooled results indicated that medication review as a stand-alone intervention was effective in preventing fall-related injuries in community-dwelling older adults (Risk Difference [RD] = −0.06, 95% CI: [−0.11, −0.00], I(2) = 61%, p = .04). Medication review also had a positive impact on decreasing the risk of fall-related fractures (RD = −0.02, 95% CI: [−0.04, −0.01], I(2) = 0%, p = .01). DISCUSSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis has demonstrated that medication review is effective in preventing fall-related injuries in general, and fractures specifically, in community-dwelling older adults. Future investigations focusing on the process of performing medication review will further inform fall-related injury prevention for older adults.