# Cannabis use and risk of falling in older adults

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF IOWA · 2020 · $232,615

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The prevalence of cannabis use has increased significantly in recent years among US adults aged ≥ 50 years.
With increased availability and use of cannabis by older adults, a rigorous evaluation of the benefits and risks
of cannabis use in these individuals is necessary. Aging is characterized by physiological and social changes
that make older adults vulnerable to chronic disease and geriatric conditions including cognitive impairment
and falls3. Unintentional falls are a common event for older adults and a major cause of morbidity and mortality
linked with a decline in functional status and disability. Moreover, falls and cognitive impairment are a “well-
known couple”; as older adults with moderate to severe cognitive impairment have a higher risk of falls, with an
annual incidence of around 60–80%, which is twice the rate of cognitively normal older adults. Impaired
cognitive function is an effect of cannabis use, and there is increasing evidence that those effects may persist
later in life. Therefore, the physiological effects of chronic cannabis use may further increase falls in older
adults via alterations in gait and cognition. Studies have shown reduced neural activity in the frontal brain
networks and associations with increased fear of falling in older adults. It is also known that in regular cannabis
users, the effects of cannabis may have an impact on cognitive-motor skills and brain mechanisms that
modulate coordinated movement.
The goal of this application is to investigate the neural correlates of fall risk and cognitive and motor function in
individuals who initiate drug use after the age of 50. We will use FDG-PET to determine brain activity. Fall risk
and cognitive/motor function will be assessed with the measures from the NIH Toolbox and a fall risk model.
Our central hypothesis is that older chronic cannabis users are at a higher fall risk than older non-users, which
is associated with reduced cerebral FDG uptake. This work will lay the foundation for larger grants (R01)
investigating the influence of the compound action of different cannabinoids. These results are expected to
provide critical and timely data to the public and health professionals regarding the effects of self-directed
cannabis use on increased fall risk and if clinicians need to access cannabis use when determining fall risk and
deciding prevention strategies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10017815
- **Project number:** 5R21AG064308-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
- **Principal Investigator:** Thorsten Rudroff
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $232,615
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-15 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10017815

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10017815, Cannabis use and risk of falling in older adults (5R21AG064308-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10017815. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*