Authors say findings warrant cognitive screening after a fall resulting in an emergency department or inpatient encounter<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 2, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Falling is independently associated with an increased risk for subsequent dementia diagnosis among older adults, according to a study published online Sept. 30 in\u00a0JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/p>\n Alexander J. Ordoobadi, M.D., from Brigham and Women\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues assessed the risk for new Alzheimer disease and related dementia diagnosis after a fall in older adults using data from roughly 2.45 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who experienced a traumatic injury (2014 to 2015) that resulted in an emergency department or inpatient encounter.<\/p>\n The researchers found that Alzheimer disease and related dementias were more frequently diagnosed within one year of a fall compared with other injury mechanisms (10.6 versus 6.1 percent). In an unadjusted analysis, higher risk was seen for incident dementia diagnosis after a fall (hazard ratio, 1.63). Risk persisted in multivariable Cox competing risk analysis (hazard ratio, 1.21) when controlling for patient demographics, medical comorbidities, and injury characteristics. For a subset of older adults without a recent skilled nursing facility admission, risk was also higher (hazard ratio, 1.27).<\/p>\n “These results suggest that cognitive screening should be implemented for older adults who have experienced a fall that results in an emergency department visit or hospital admission,” the authors write.<\/p>\n