title: Slow Processing Speed Predicts Falls in Older Adults With a Falls History: 1-Year Prospective Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A previous fall is a strong predictor of future falls. Recent epidemiologic data suggest that deficits in processing speed predict future injurious falls. Our primary objective was to determine a parsimonious predictive model of future falls among older adults who experienced ≥1 fall in the past 12 months based on the following categories: counts of (1) total, (2) indoor, (3) outdoor or (4) non-injurious falls; (5) one mild or severe injury fall (yes vs no); (6) an injurious instead of a non-injurious fall; and (7) an outdoor instead of an indoor fall.
  
  
  METHODS
  12-month prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Vancouver Falls Prevention Clinic, Canada (www.fallsclinic.ca).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-hundred and eighty-eight community-dwelling older adults aged ≥70 years with a history of ≥1 fall resulting in medical attention in the previous 12 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  We employed principal component analysis to reduce the baseline predictor variables to a smaller set of five factors (i.e., processing speed, working memory, emotional functioning, physical functioning and body composition/fall risk profile). Second, we used the extracted five factors as predictors in regression models predicting the incidence of falls over a 12-month prospective observation period. We conducted regression analyses for the seven falls-related categories (defined above).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among older adults with a falls history, processing speed was the most consistent predictor of future falls; poorer processing speed predicted a greater number of total, indoor, outdoor, and non-injurious falls, and a greater likelihood of experiencing at least one mild or severe injurious fall (all P values < .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Poorer performance on the processing speed factor, a trainable factor, was independently associated with the most costly type of falls-injurious falls.
authors.affiliation: Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Best
authors.affiliation: Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Karim M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dian
authors.affiliation: Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lord
authors.affiliation: Falls, Balance and Injury Research Centre, Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5655-0234
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Delbaere
authors.affiliation: Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Chun Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.affiliation: Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Winnie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Wency
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Center for Hip Health and Mobility, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.|Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Liu-Ambrose
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001955:British Columbia; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
keywords: falls; indoor fall; injurious fall; older adults; outdoor fall