Cyclic Antidepressants and the Risk of Hip Fracture

To determine whether cyclic antidepressants increase the risk of hip fracture, we conducted a population-based case-control study in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. We identified 4501 persons 65 years of age or older with a first hospitalization for hip fracture between 1977 and 1985 and 24,041 comparable controls. Current antidepressant users had a relative risk of hip fracture of 1.6 (95% confidence interval, 1.3 to 1.9). Medical record review for a sample of 164 cases suggested this finding was not due to confounding by body mass, impaired ambulation, functional status, or dementia.