Prevalence of Falls and Fractures in Alzheimer’s Patients Compared to General Population

Abstract

Introduction Alzheimer's disease (AD), found in the aging elderly population, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that leads to worsening memory loss and cognitive impairment. Falls and fractures are common in the overall elderly population. Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of falls and fractures in Alzheimer's patients compared to the general population. Methodology This longitudinal study was conducted at the neurology outpatient department (OPD) in a tertiary healthcare setup in Pakistan from November 2019 till April 2020. Previously confirmed diagnosed Alzheimer's patients from neurology OPD were included in one group. Equal number of gender and agematched healthy participants were included in the reference group. Participants were followed for 12 months to determine the incidence of falls and non-vertebral fractures. Results The incidence of fall was significant in the Alzheimer group compared to the reference group (22.8% vs. 10.9%; relative risk (RR): 2.08; P-value: 0.01). Fractures were also significantly more common in the Alzheimer group compared to the reference group (12.8% vs. 5.1%; RR: 2.51; P-value: 0.03). Conclusion This study demonstrated a higher incidence of falls and fractures in Alzheimer's patients compared to healthy non-Alzheimer individuals. Management of AD should include measures to reduce falls and fractures in addition to standard therapy.

Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells 2 (TREM2) R47H Variant Causes Distinct Age- and Sex-Dependent Musculoskeletal Alterations in Mice

“…AD patients are more susceptible to falls and fractures, which often result from reduced skeletal muscle and bone strength. (14,15) Therefore, understanding the mechanisms underlying bone and muscle loss in AD will be critical for finding therapeutic targets that could effectively reduce falls and fractures by targeting both tissues. Further, defining a potential mechanism of bone and muscle loss independent of central neurodegeneration will improve the overall understanding of neurodegenerative effects on peripheral physiology.…”

Meta-Analysis-Based Comparison of Annual Fall Risk between Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

“…For MCI, the cognitive status of the participants was determined by various cognition assessment tools (e.g., the Mini-Mental State Exam [ 62 ], Montreal Cognitive Assessment [ 63 ], Frontal Assessment Battery [ 64 ], etc.). The average participant age spanned from 65 [ 34 ] to 86.6 [ 43 ] years for the AD participants, and from 69.5 [ 51 ] to 81.1 [ 55 ] years for MCI participants. All included studies tracked fall prevalence or the number of fallers during a 12-month period (either retrospectively or prospectively).…”

Association Between Pain with Disability in the Elderly with Dementia

“…According to fall prevalence, its rate was 37 (30.8%), which in the study of Dev et al showed that this rate in the group of Alzheimer's patients 32 (22.8%) for a minimum of one fall, prevalence 8 (5.7%) multiple falls and a prevalence of 18 (12.8%) have been reported for non-vertebral fractures (22). In the paper of Kato-Narita et al, the prevalence of falls in AD patients was 55% (36), in the study of Soysal et al on dementia patients, the prevalence of fear of falling was 86.9% in patients with dementia and 36.0% in patients with AD (37).…”

“…On the other hand, when these disabilities are associated with dementia, this function becomes weaker and may even lead to the patient falling (16). Falls are one of the most important causes of fatal and non-fatal injuries in people over 64 years of age, which has high prevalence and many consequent injuries, and this shows the importance of the issue (22).…”