Journal article

Falls and fractures in patients chronically treated with antiepileptic drugs

BS Ahmad, KD Hill, TJ O'Brien, A Gorelik, N Habib, JD Wark

Neurology | LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS | Published : 2012

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate fractures and falls in epilepsy patients taking antiepileptic drugs (AED) and to assess their awareness of AED-related bone health, falls, and fracture risk. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in epilepsy patients taking AEDs and in nonepileptic non-AED users. Information on falls and fracture history was collected. Results: A total of 150 AED users were compared with 506 non-AED users. Users had greater odds of fracture at spine (odds ratio [OR] 3.92; confidence interval [CI] 1.08-14.16; p = 0.037), clavicle (OR 3.75; CI 1.24-11.34; p=0.019), and ankle sites (OR 2.34; CI 1.01-5.42; p=0.048), increased odds for osteoporosis (OR 4.62; CI 1.40-15.30; p = 0.01..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

[ "Supported by The Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne.", "B. Shiek Ahmad receives support for her PhD from University of Malaya; Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), Malaysia. K. Hill reports no disclosures. T.J. O'Brien is currently sponsored by from UCB Pharma for a different research project investigating antiepileptic drugs and bone health. A. Gorelik and N. Habib report no disclosures. J.D. Wark has received research support from UCB Pharma for a study unrelated to the present project. Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures." ]