A New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers Health study found blood pressure medications more than double the risk of bone fractures in nursing home residents.
The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed data from 29,648 long-term care nursing home residents in the Veterans Health Administration from Jan. 1, 2006 to Oct. 31, 2019.
Researchers compared the 30-day risk of fractures to the hip, pelvis, humerus radius or ulna for patients who used blood pressure medications with patients who did not.
The incidence rate of fractures in residents on antihypertensive medications was 5.4 per 100 people per year, compared with 2.2 for those not on blood pressure medications.
Antihypertensive medications were also associated with higher risk of severe falls that required hospitalization or emergency department visits. The risk of fracture was higher among residents with dementia (3.28), systolic blood pressure of 140 mm Hg or higher (3.12), diastolic blood pressure of 80 mm Hg or higher (4.41) and no recent antihypertensive medication use (4.77)