Background: People with neurological disorders including stroke, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and polyneuropathy are known to have an increased risk of falls.
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and nature of neurological risk factors among the patients attending the Multidisciplinary Falls Consultation of the University Hospital of Lille (France), and to analyze the characteristic features of patients termed "neurological fallers" with neurological risk factors.
Methods: The study included 266 consecutive patients who were initially assessed by a geriatrician, a neurologist and a physiatrist, and again, six months later, by the same geriatrician.
Results: Two out of three patients had neurological signs that can be regarded as neurological risk factors of falling. These neurological signs had not been diagnosed before the consultation in 85% of cases. The most common conditions were deficit of lower extremity proprioception (59% of patients) and cognitive impairment (43%). The most frequently evoked neurological diseases were dementia (40% of patients), polyneuropathy (17%) and stroke (8%). Compared with other patients, "neurological fallers" were more frequently living in a nursing home, had lower ADL and MMSE scores at baseline, had experienced more falls in the six preceding months, had a lower probability of having a timed Up-and-Go test less than 20 seconds and a single limb stance equal to 5 seconds. In the follow-up, "neurological fallers" reported hospitalizations more often.
Conclusion: The findings show that a large proportion of old persons presenting at the Multidisciplinary Falls Consultation have unrecognized neurological disorders. Comprehensive neurological examination including an evaluation of cognition is required in every elderly faller.
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