ABSTRACT NUMBER: ESOC2026LB88 INJURIOUS FALLS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER CARDIOMETABOLIC DISEASE DIAGNOSIS: A POPULATION-BASED STUDY

Abstract Background and aims Injurious falls are common among older adults with cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), including type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart disease, and stroke. However, how fall incidence evolves before, around, and after CMD diagnosis, and its relation to subsequent mortality, remains unclear. To characterize the incidence of injurious falls across two key phases: the peri-diagnostic period of CMDs and the disease course from diagnosis to death. Methods Using data from the Swedish Twin Registry, we identified 10,180 individuals with incident CMDs and 10,180 age- and sex-matched controls without CMDs. CMDs were ascertained via self-reports, medication records, and the National Patient Registry (NPR). Injurious falls were identified from NPR records and followed over a 21-year retrospective and prospective period. Mortality data were obtained from the Cause of Death Register. Conditional Poisson regression models were applied to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs). Results Injurious fall incidence increased approximately three years before CMD diagnosis (IRR 1.22, 95% CI 1.02–1.46), peaked in the diagnostic year (IRR 1.85, 95% CI 1.62–2.12), and remained elevated for up to ten years thereafter (IRR 1.16–1.57). Among individuals with CMD, those who died during follow-up experienced substantially higher fall rates than survivors, with the largest divergence observed in the final two years of life (IRR 2.05, 95% CI 1.75–2.42). Conclusions Injurious falls increase during the prodromal phase of CMDs, peak around diagnosis, and persist thereafter, highlighting their potential role as an early indicator of disease-related vulnerability and a target for timely preventive interventions. Conflict of interest