As the years pass, the risk of falls becomes a growing concern. Falls not only result in injuries but can also lead to a decline in confidence, causing individuals to withdraw from daily activities.

Now, recent research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital has uncovered an even more concerning link: older adults who experience falls are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias later on.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, analysed Medicare Fee-For-Service data from 2014-2015, involving 2,453,655 older adults who had experienced a traumatic injury, with follow-up data collected for one year after the initial fall.

“I often see patients admitted after falls, which are among the most common reasons for trauma center admissions and can lead to severe injuries. This raises an important question: Why are these falls happening in the first place?” said first author Alexander Ordoobadi, MD, a resident physician in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham. 

“We treat the injuries, provide rehabilitation, but often overlook the underlying risk factors that contribute to falls despite a growing body of evidence suggesting a link between falls and cognitive decline.”

Following the study, researchers found that half of the patients sustained their injuries from a fall, and these individuals were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with dementia within one year of their injury.

“The relationship between falls and dementia appears to be a two-way street,” said senior author Molly Jarman, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Surgery and deputy director of the Center for Surgery and Public Health at the Brigham.

“Cognitive decline can increase the likelihood of falls, but trauma from those falls may also accelerate dementia’s progression and make a diagnosis more likely down the line. Thus, falls may be able to act as precursor events that can help us identify people who need further cognitive screening.”

The findings suggest that conducting cognitive screenings in older patients following a fall could help detect dementia sooner.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is the lack of ownership in the process of follow-up screening for cognitive impairment, because there may not be adequate time for these screenings in an emergency department or trauma center setting,” said Ordoobadi.

“Ideally, after an injury, older adults should receive follow up care with a primary care provider or geriatrician who can monitor their cognitive health and long-term functional recovery after the injury, but many older adults don’t have a regular primary care provider and lack access to a geriatrician.”

Researchers claim the findings offer “the opportunity to intervene early” when it comes to diagnosing dementia among older adults.

“If we can establish that falls serve as early indicators of dementia, we could identify other precursors and early events that we could intervene on, which would significantly improve our approach to managing cognitive health in older adults,” Jarman said.