Trajectories of physical function, depressive symptoms, and cognitive performance before and after falls in older adults: A matched multicohort study

The study analyzed data from three national cohorts from China, the United Kingdom, and the USA collected between 2010 and 2021 on a sample of 28,773 adults aged 60 years and older. Researchers compared 10,990 matched pairs of participants – those who experienced falls and those who did not. They found that individuals with falls showed worse physical function, more severe depressive symptoms, and poorer cognitive performance up to 5 years before the fall, and these differences persisted after the fall. Physical function declined faster both before and after the fall event. Depressive symptoms worsened faster only before the fall, while cognitive performance declined faster only after the fall. Participants with falls had 2.45 times higher odds of multidomain functional decline. The results suggest that functional deterioration across multiple domains precedes falls by several years.