The Association Between Social Engagement, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Falls Among Older Primary Care Patients.

The analysis was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that mild cognitive impairment or low social engagement caused falls, or that increasing social engagement would reduce falls. Falls were self-reported for the previous year, which can be affected by recall bias, rather than counted prospectively. Participants were Boston-area primary care patients already at risk of mobility decline, so results may not apply to all older adults or other regions. The number of falls was not the primary outcome of the original cohort study. Reverse causation cannot be ruled out because falls and social engagement were assessed at the same time. Physical environmental factors, such as home and neighborhood conditions, were not measured or adjusted.

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Do not conclude that increasing social engagement will prevent falls. This was a cross-sectional analysis of self-reported prior-year falls, so it shows association, not causation, and no social-engagement intervention was tested.