Insomnia and Hypnotic Use, Recorded in the Minimum Data Set, as Predictors of Falls and Hip Fractures in Michigan Nursing Homes

doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53304.x

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Wiley InterScience

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Volume 53 Issue 6, Pages 955 - 962

Published Online: 30 Mar 2005

Journal compilation 2010 The American Geriatrics Society/Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Insomnia and Hypnotic Use, Recorded in the Minimum Data Set, as Predictors of Falls and Hip Fractures in Michigan Nursing Homes

Alon Y. Avidan, MD, MPH ^* , Brant E. Fries, PhD ^†‡§ , Mary L. James, MA ^† , Kristina L. Szafara, PhD ^† , Glenn T. Wright, BS ^† and Ronald D. Chervin, MD, MS ^*

From the ^*Sleep Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, ^†Institute of Gerontology, and ^‡School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and ^§Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Address correspondence to Alon Y. Avidan, MD, MPH, Michael S. Aldrich Sleep Laboratory, 8D-8702 University Hospital, Box 0117, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. E-mail: avidana@umich.edu

This study was supported, in part, by the National Institute of Aging through the Older Americans Independence Grant P60 A608808-10 and Training Grant T32 AG00114.
Presented preliminarily and in part at the Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 2004, and the Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC, November 2004.

KEYWORDS

insomnia • accidental falls • hip fractures • aged • nursing homes • Minimum Data Set • interRAI

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To examine the relationship between insomnia, hypnotic use, falls, and hip fractures in older people.

Design: Secondary analysis of a large, longitudinal, assessment database.

Setting: Four hundred thirty-seven nursing homes in Michigan.

Participants: Residents aged 65 and older in 2001 with a baseline Minimum Data Set assessment and a follow-up 150 to 210 days later.

Measurements: Logistic regression modeled any follow-up report of fall or hip fracture. Predictors were baseline reports of insomnia (previous month) and use of hypnotics (previous week). Potential confounds taken into account included standard measures of functional status, cognitive status, intensity of resource utilization, proximity to death, illness burden, number of medications, emergency room visits, nursing home new admission, age, and sex.

Results: In 34,163 nursing home residents (76% women, mean age±standard deviation 84±8), hypnotic use did not predict falls (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.98, 1.30). In contrast, insomnia did predict future falls (AOR=1.52, 95% CI=1.38, 1.66). Untreated insomnia (AOR=1.55, 95% CI=1.41, 1.71) and hypnotic-treated (unresponsive) insomnia (AOR=1.32, 95% CI=1.02, 1.70) predicted more falls than did the absence of insomnia. After adjustment for confounding variables, insomnia and hypnotic use were not associated with subsequent hip fracture.

Conclusion: In elderly nursing home residents, insomnia, but not hypnotic use, is associated with a greater risk of subsequent falls. Future studies will need to confirm these findings and determine whether appropriate hypnotic use can protect against future falls.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53304.x About DOI