First hospitalised falls among people living with dementia: risk factors and outcomes

People with dementia and multiple other health conditions experienced a high number of first hospitalised falls

Among people living with dementia in the community, those with multiple health conditions (profile 5, multimorbidity), had the highest proportion of people experiencing a first hospitalised fall (25%) compared to other risk factor profiles (Figure 3).

Almost 1 in 4 (24%, Table S6) falls among people in this multimorbidity profile occurred in hospital, highlighting the need for greater precautions within hospital settings for people living with dementia and multiple other health conditions.

This risk factor profile (profile 5, multimorbidity) also had a high proportion of people experiencing recurrent falls (33%, Figure 3). The proportion of individuals experiencing recurrent falls within 12 months of the first fall was similarly high across all profiles, ranging from 1 in 4 people in profile 1, to 1 in 3 people in profile 5.

These findings emphasise the need for fall prevention strategies, and support following a fall, for people living with dementia and other comorbidities.

Figure 3: Proportion of people experiencing a first hospitalised fall and recurrent falls by risk factor profiles for people living with dementia in the community, by age and sex