Citation

Silva de Lima AL, Smits T, Darweesh SKL, Valenti G, Milosevic M, Pijl M, Baldus H, de Vries NM, Meinders MJ, Bloem BR. Mov. Disord. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Neurology, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Movement Disorders Society, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/mds.27830

PMID

31449705

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Falling is among the most serious clinical problems in Parkinson's disease (PD). We used body-worn sensors (falls detector worn as a necklace) to quantify the hazard ratio of falls in PD patients in real life.

METHODS: We matched all 2063 elderly individuals with self-reported PD to 2063 elderly individuals without PD based on age, gender, comorbidity, and living conditions. We analyzed fall events collected at home via a wearable sensor. Fall events were collected either automatically using the wearable falls detector or were registered by a button push on the same device. We extracted fall events from a 2.5-year window, with an average follow-up of 1.1 years. All falls included were confirmed immediately by a subsequent telephone call. The outcomes evaluated were (1) incidence rate of any fall, (2) incidence rate of a new fall after enrollment (ie, hazard ratio), and (3) 1-year cumulative incidence of falling.

RESULTS: The incidence rate of any fall was higher among self-reported PD patients than controls (2.1 vs. 0.7 falls/person, respectively; P < .0001). The incidence rate of a new fall after enrollment (ie, hazard ratio) was 1.8 times higher for self-reported PD patients than controls (95% confidence interval, 1.6-2.0).

CONCLUSION: Having PD nearly doubles the incidence of falling in real life. These findings highlight PD as a prime "falling disease." The results also point to the feasibility of using body-worn sensors to monitor falls in daily life. © 2019 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

© 2019 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Language: en

Keywords

Parkinson's disease; falls incidence; home-based monitoring; wearable sensor