title: Fall-related injuries in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Repeated falls are reported as one of the clinical characteristics in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We examined the incidence of fall-related injuries in 561 dementia patients with various clinical diagnoses, including DLB and Alzheimer's disease (AD), in a ward established for dementia research. The incidence of fall-related injuries was significantly higher in DLB patients (10.7%) than in AD patients (1.1%) (P < 0.001). The high incidence in those patients with DLB cannot be attributed to Parkinsonism because none of the DLB patients with injuries showed extrapyramidal sign. Our observations suggest that patients with a clinical diagnosis of DLB have a high risk of fall-related injuries, even though they do not show Parkinsonism. An appropriate clinical discrimination between DLB and AD is recommended to manage and prevent fall-related injuries.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Neurosciences, Hyogo Institute for Ageing Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Hyogo Institute Hospital for Ageing Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Himeji, Japan. imamura@hiabcd.go.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Imamura
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hirono
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kazui
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanimukai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanihara
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takahara
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mori
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D020961:Lewy Body Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*