Severe Fear of Falling Is Associated With Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: A 3-Year Prospective Study

Fear of falling (FOF) is common in older adults. We investigated whether FOF affects development of cognitive decline over a 3-year period in community-dwelling older adults with intact cognition.

Retrospective, cohort, observational.

Data for 4280 older adults with normal cognition at baseline from the Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Korean Older Persons (2008 and 2011).

History of falls and severity of FOF (no fear, somewhat fearful, or very fearful) were assessed at baseline (2008). We evaluated cognitive function using the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination in 2008 and 2011, and defined cognitive decline as a decrease of ≥3 points over the 3-year study period. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between FOF and cognitive decline.

The prevalence of being somewhat fearful of falling was 54.6% and that of being very fearful was 9.7%. The participants who were somewhat fearful of falling had a 1.2-fold higher risk of cognitive decline; this finding lost significance in adjusted models. The participants who were very fearful of falling had a 1.45-fold higher risk of cognitive decline than those with no FOF after adjusting for confounders [odds ratio (OR) 1.45, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.95]. When we divided the participants according to age, sex, and baseline cognitive function, the association was significant in men (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.24-4.25), participants age >70 years (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.06-2.33), and those with a Mini-Mental State Examination score <30 (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.07-1.98).

Being very fearful of falling increased the risk of cognitive decline in older Korean adults. Physicians should be aware of the risk of development of cognitive impairment in older individuals with FOF.