Citation

Imamura T, Hirono N, Hashimoto M, Kazui H, Tanimukai S, Hanihara T, Takahara A, Mori E. Eur. J. Neurol. 2000; 7(1): 77-79.

Affiliation

Division of Clinical Neurosciences, Hyogo Institute for Ageing Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Hyogo Institute Hospital for Ageing Brain and Cognitive Disorders, Himeji, Japan. imamura@hiabcd.go.jp

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, European Federation of Neurological Societies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10809918

Abstract

Repeated falls are reported as one of the clinical characteristics in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). We examined the incidence of fall-related injuries in 561 dementia patients with various clinical diagnoses, including DLB and Alzheimer's disease (AD), in a ward established for dementia research. The incidence of fall-related injuries was significantly higher in DLB patients (10.7%) than in AD patients (1.1%) (P < 0.001). The high incidence in those patients with DLB cannot be attributed to Parkinsonism because none of the DLB patients with injuries showed extrapyramidal sign. Our observations suggest that patients with a clinical diagnosis of DLB have a high risk of fall-related injuries, even though they do not show Parkinsonism. An appropriate clinical discrimination between DLB and AD is recommended to manage and prevent fall-related injuries.

Language: en