Alzheimer's Disease is an Important Risk Factor of Fractures: a Meta-analysis of Cohort Studies.

The risk of fracture in individuals with Alzheimer's disease had not been fully quantified. A systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies was performed to estimate the impact of Alzheimer's disease on risk of fractures. Pubmed and Embase were searched for eligible cohort studies assessing the association between Alzheimer's disease and risk of fractures. The overall relative risks (RRs) with 95% CIs were calculated using a random-effects model to evaluate the association. Six cohort studies with a total of 137,986 participants were included into the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of a total of six studies showed that Alzheimer's disease was significantly associated with two-fold increased risk of fractures (RR = 2.18, 95 % CI 1.64-2.90, P < 0.001; I 2 = 91.4 %). Meta-regression analysis showed that type of fractures was a source of heterogeneity (P = 0.003). Meta-analysis of five studies on hip fracture showed that Alzheimer's disease was significantly associated with 2.5-fold increased risk of hip fracture (RR = 2.52, 95 % CI 2.26-2.81, P < 0.001; I 2 = 25.2 %). There was no risk of publication bias observed in the funnel plot. There is strong evidence that Alzheimer's disease is a risk factor of hip fracture.