Fig 2.

Study scheme and definitions of treatment periods. A three year washout period before the start date was used to exclude patients with a history of falls and fractures. A one year baseline period was defined to assess patients’ baseline covariates. The study was divided into five separate periods: 14 day pretreatment period before the use of drugs, use of cholinesterase inhibitors alone, use of antipsychotic drugs alone, use of a combination of cholinesterase inhibitors and antipsychotic drugs, and non-treatment period, when cholinesterase inhibitors and antipsychotic drugs were not used. A refill noted within 14 days after the end date of the last prescription (that is, 14 day grace period) was considered as a continuation of a previous prescription. ChEI=cholinesterase inhibitor; AP=antipsychotic drug