Dizziness and falling in elderly psychiatric outpatients.

The authors examined 100 psychiatric patients who were 60 years old and older for orthostatic hypotension and symptoms of dizziness and falling. Almost 40% of the patients complained of dizziness and falling, although only 27% had systolic orthostatic hypotension. Drug treatment, particularly the combination of tricyclics with other orthostatic hypotension-inducing drugs, was the most important factor accounting for the dizziness and falling. Underlying medical illness, particularly heart disease, also correlated significantly with the patients' symptoms.