GAIT AND COGNITION AND RISK FOR DEMENTIA AND FALLS. THE RATIONALE FOR TREATING THEM TOGETHER

Gait and cognitive impairments in older adults are evaluated and treated as separate entities, which has created gaps in care and obscured common mechanistic connections. Considering them separately is not only inefficient but it does not acknowledge the reality that they co-exist in an important proportion of older individuals and that ultimately leads to insidious disability. The combined view of gait and cognitive decline has substantial public health relevance, not only because of their high combined prevalence, but also because of potential crossover effects on one syndrome by treating the other. The detection of common modifiable risk factors will open the opportunity to treat them as a single entity, thus, in essence, doubling the repertoire of interventions. The rationale of treating them together will be presented.