News: Falling associated with increased risk for future dementia diagnosis, study says

New Alzheimer disease and related dementia diagnoses were more common after falls compared with other forms of traumatic injury, according to a retrospective cohort study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). 

In examining Medicare Fee-for-Service data from 2014 to 2015, which are available for at least a year after the initial encounter, researchers identified almost 2.5 million older adult patients who had experienced a traumatic injury that resulted in an emergency department (ED) visit or inpatient admission, JustCoding reported. These patients were aged 66 years and older and did not have a preexisting diagnosis of dementia.

Of these older adult patients, roughly half of the traumatic injuries were identified as occurring from a fall, and new dementia diagnoses were more common after falls than after other traumatic injuries. In the first year after the injury, 10.6% of patients who had fallen were diagnosed with dementia compared to 6.1% of patients with a different type of injury.

According to the study’s conclusions, the data corroborates growing evidence of an association between falls and cognitive impairment. It is speculated that motor impairments may also precede the onset of dementia, and these impairments can result in an increased risk of falls in the years leading up to the documented diagnosis of dementia. Despite this link between impairments and fall risk, current fall prevention guidelines do not consistently recommend cognitive screening.

As a result, the study emphasized the need for cognitive screening for older adults who experience an injurious fall that results in an ED visit or hospital admission. Such screening could aid in the timely diagnosis of dementia, researchers stated.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in JustCoding. To read the JAMA study, click here.