• Francesc Formiga, Alfonso Lopez-Soto, Enric Duaso, Domingo Ruiz, David Chivite, Juan Manel Perez-Castejon, Margarita Navarro, and Ramon Pujol.
• Geriatric Unit, Internal Medicine Service, Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain. fformiga@csub.scs.es
• Aging Clin Exp Res. 2008 Oct 1;20(5):434-8.

Background And AimsFalls are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in older people who have cognitive impairment. The present study compared the characteristics of community-dwelling patients, with and without previous diagnosis of dementia, hospitalized because of a hip fracture.Methods1024 consecutive patients >65 years (77.2% women, mean age 82.9 yrs) admitted for fall-related hip fracture to six Spanish hospitals during a 20-month period were included. Sociodemographic data, geriatric assessment and characteristics (location, time and possible cause: intrinsic, extrinsic or combined risk factor) of falls leading to hip fracture were evaluated.ResultsA total of 154 (15%) patients had a previous diagnosis of dementia. Analysis showed a greater number of previous falls before admission for hip fracture in demented patients. Moreover, in non-demented patients, we found both a predominance of falls during the day and of extrinsic factors.ConclusionSome differences were observed, according to the cognitive status of elderly patients suffering a hip fracture due to a fall. A high percentage of dementia patients had suffered repeated falls prior to the fall-related hip fracture.

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