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AAN: History of Falls Key Determinant of Future Falls in Patients With Parkinson's Disease By Jill Stein SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- April 28, 2004 -- A history of falls is the most important predictor of future falls in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), researchers reported here on April 27th at the American Academy of Neurology 56th Annual Meeting. Yacov Balash, MD, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, and co-workers estimated the frequency of falls and identified risk factors for falls in 350 consecutive patients with idiopathic PD. They excluded patients with dementia, inability to stand and walk with help, severe visual disturbances, vestibular disease, and clinically significant neuropathy or leg weakness. Overall, 46% of patients reported falls; 22.9% were injurious falls that required medical attention. Falls were considered injurious if they included bruises, skin lacerations, joint dislocations, bone fractures, or brain concussion. The odds ratio for a future fall in patients who had sustained a prior fall was 58.34 (P <.001). The odds ratio for a future fall in patients with urinary incontinence was 1.98 ((P <.01). Univariate and multivariate statistical models that took history of falls as an independent factor for future falls showed that patients treated with selegiline had fewer falls (crude odds ratio [OR] =.561, adjusted OR =.417), although the sensitivity of the adjusted OR was low. Falls are the most serious complication of gait disturbance in PD patients and result from increased postural instability and gait dysrhythmicity, Dr. Balash pointed out. Falls are the leading cause of physical trauma, fear of future falls, and restriction of day-to-day activity in patients with advanced PD, he added. [Falls in Parkinson's Disease: Clinico-Statistical Analysis. Poster #P01.067] SOURCE: Doctor's Guide http://tinyurl.com/2r4gk * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn