Johnson County, IA<br />A Livable Community for Successful Aging

Sure Steps

Falls are costly.  Falls are preventable.


  Minimize

Step 2 - Have your health care provider
review your medicines

Ask your doctor or a pharmacist to review all the medicines you
take, even over-the-counter medicines.

As you get older, the way medicines work in your body
can change.  Some medicines, or combinations of medicines,
can make you sleepy or dizzy and can cause you to fall.

 

Sure Steps Tip

As you increase the number of medications that you take, your risk of falls may increase.

What you can do:

  • Ask your health care provider to review your medication list for medicines which you may no longer need or that may increase your risk for medication-related falls.

 

Resources

Medication & Falls Risk Chart - provides examples of medications, how they might increase your risk of falls, and what to report to your health care provider.  Prepared by Jeffrey Reist, Pharm.D., BCPS, University of Iowa College of Pharmacy.