Lower-Body Fractures and the Risk of Dementia: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

• Published in: Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) Korea), 2024-03, Vol.20 (2), p.208-213
• Main Authors: Kim, Jung-Kyeom, Park, Sang-Won, Lee, Suk-Hee, Kasani, Payam Hosseinzadeh, Byeon, Gi Hwan, Kim, Yeshin, Jang, Jae-Won, Lee, Seo-Young
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1738-6586; 2005-5013
• DOI: 10.3988/jcn.2022.0257

The association between physical activity and dementia has been shown in various observational studies. We aimed to determine the risk of dementia in the elderly with lower-body fractures. We reconstructed a population-based matched cohort from the National Health Insurance Service-Senior Cohort data set that covers 511,953 recipients of medical insurance in South Korea. Overall 53,776 subjects with lower-body fractures were identified during 2006-2012, and triplicate control groups were matched randomly by sex, age, and years from the index date for each subject with a fracture. There were 3,573 subjects (6.6%) with and 7,987 subjects (4.9%) without lower-body fractures who developed dementia from 2008 up to 2015. Lower-body fractures were independently associated with a subsequent dementia diagnosis with a higher adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) (1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.49-1.62) compared with upper-body fractures (aHR=1.19, 95% CI=1.14-1.23). These results support the protective role of physical activity against dementia and highlight the importance of promoting fracture prevention in the elderly.