Elderly nursing home residents with insomnia have an increased risk of falling, researchers report.

Dr. Alon Y. Avidan and colleagues from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, used information in a database to look at insomnia, use of sleeping pills, falls, and hip fracture in the elderly. The information covered 34,163 residents from 437 nursing homes in Michigan.

Moderate insomnia (occurring on 1 to 5 nights per week) affected 1872 of the residents, and severe insomnia (at least 6 nights per week) was documented in 277, according to the team's study, published online by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

They also found that 882 of the subjects took sleeping pills.

A total of 14,661 (42.9 percent) subjects fell during the 6-month study period, and of 841 (2.5 percent) sustained a hip fracture.

Analysis of the data showed that use of sleeping pills in itself was not linked to falls, but insomnia was.

Compared to patients without insomnia, those with untreated insomnia were 55 percent more likely to have future falls, and those with insomnia despite taking sleeping pills had a 32 percent higher risk.

However, neither insomnia nor sleeping pills were associated with hip fracture.

The researchers call for further studies to confirm the findings and "determine whether appropriate (sleeping pill) use can protect against future falls."

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, online April 6, 2005.