A cohort study on the association between psychotropics and hip fracture in Korean elderly women.

To test the hypothesis that the intake of psychotropics may increase the risk of hip fracture, a cohort study was conducted upon elderly Korean women. The Korean Elderly Pharmacoepidemiology Cohort was constructed from members of the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation over 65 yr of age who were living in Busan Metropolitan City in 1993. Study participants (n=6,043) were female respondents to a self-administered question survey. Information on the intake of psychotropics was obtained from the drug prescription database, which contained all psychotropic prescriptions during any hospital admission over the two-year period between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1994. The cohort follow-up has been conducted with information on hip fracture being collected from the Korea Medical Insurance Corporation medical treatment claims database over the four year period between January 1, 1993 and December 31, 1996. Three hundred and three subjects had received 745 psychotropics prescriptions and 56 cases of hip fracture were found. After adjusting for age, body mass index, and drinking history, it was found that the intake of psychotropics significantly increased the risk of hip fracture (adjusted odds ratio, 4.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.89-9.52). This study suggests that the intake of psychotropics might be an important risk factor for hip fracture in elderly Korean women.