Citation

Harris E. J. Am. Med. Assoc. JAMA 2024; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, American Medical Association)

DOI

10.1001/jama.2024.8631

PMID

38787550

Abstract

Long-term Veterans Health Administration (VA) nursing home residents who started new medications to treat high blood pressure were more than twice as likely to experience a fracture than those who did not, according to a cohort study involving more than 29 600 VA participants, almost all male, aged 65 years or older.

Residents initiating antihypertensives also had an 80% increased risk of a fall that required an emergency department or hospital visit and a 69% increased risk of syncope. Moreover, antihypertensives were associated with a greater risk of fractures among people with dementia, as well as among those with higher baseline blood pressure or who hadn't previously used antihypertensive medications.

When deciding whether to prescribe an antihypertensive medication for an older person living in a nursing home, clinicians should "contextualize a limited life expectancy against the anticipated time horizon over which the cardiovascular benefits are likely to manifest," the researchers wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Language: en