The 2026 annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) wrapped up over the weekend. The AGS 2026 Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting ran from April 27 through May 2, and was completely virtual. The AGS meeting featured three pre-conference event days, before the main event ran from April 30 through May 2.

Today, we’re highlighting some key primary care abstracts presented at the conference. Topics range from routine falls to heat-related illness. Some descriptions and conclusions were edited for brevity and clarity. AGS published all abstracts from the 2026 AGS annual meeting in an April supplement issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Primary Care Abstracts from AGS 2026

Effect of Therapeutic Yoga Versus General Physical Conditioning on Physical Function in Older Women with Urinary Incontinence: A Multicenter Randomized Trial

  • Description: Older women with urinary incontinence (UI) have an increased risk of functional decline. Yoga has been proposed as a strategy to improve both physical function and UI in women, but it is unclear if it offers similar benefits as other forms of exercise.
  • Conclusion: Among ambulatory older women with UI enrolled in a multicenter trial, a 12-week yoga program did not improve lower extremity strength as much as a general physical conditioning program. However, objective measures of physical function improved in both groups, suggesting that either program may prevent functional decline in aging women with UI.

Do Loop Diuretics Lead to Increased Use of Urinary Symptom Medications Among Older Adults?

  • Description: Diuretics cause bothersome urinary symptoms that can be deleterious for older adults. Though clinicians are likely aware of this adverse effect, [the researchers] hypothesized that loop diuretic (LD) use may still lead to a prescribing cascade among older adults, whereby urinary symptoms are ascribed to genitourinary syndromes and treated with urinary symptom medications (USM), likely providing little benefit and failing to address the root cause of the problem.
  • Conclusion: [The researchers] did not find evidence of a LD–USM cascade among older veterans as a group. Clinicians may be underprescribing USMs in people receiving LDs, perhaps due to over-attribution of urinary symptoms to LD use. Baseline urinary pathology diagnosis and medical complexity are important factors in determining the direction and strength of this potential prescribing cascade.

Managing Complex Medication Regimens as a Triad for Individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Dementia: Patient, Caregiver, and Clinician Perspectives

  • Description: Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia work with family caregivers and clinicians to manage multidrug regimens; however, problems with medication management are evident, as half of all potentially avoidable hospitalizations among individuals living with dementia are due to poorly controlled chronic conditions. [The researchers] sought to describe the initiation of these triadic clinical encounters and medication management to identify opportunities to enhance these encounters.
  • Conclusion: Opportunities exist to initiate thoughtful early planning for transitions, ensure members have tangible educational materials that both reiterate the value of triadic relationships, and detail general and patient-specific medication and dementia care guidance.

Hot Topic: Assessing How Geriatricians Address Heat-Related Illness

  • Description: Heat-related illness (HRI) is an escalating public health concern due to rising global temperatures. Older adults are especially vulnerable as aging impairs thermal perception, thirst sensation, and temperature regulation. These physiological changes, along with comorbidities and suboptimal living conditions can increase the risk of HRI morbidity and mortality. It is unknown how frequently geriatricians screen for, assess, and counsel patients on HRI prevention.
  • Conclusion: The survey responses indicate that addressing HRI is not yet a routine practice for many geriatricians and screening, risk assessment, and preventive counseling on HRI are inconsistently integrated into geriatrics care. Given the increasing prevalence of extreme heat events and the vulnerability of older adults, there is an urgent need to enhance provider awareness of HRI, systematic identification of at-risk patients, and standardized, easily accessible counseling resources.

Factors Influencing Clinician Offer of Video Telehealth to Older Adults

  • Description: Despite overall increased use of video telehealth since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Digital Divide has increased for older adults, exacerbating health disparities. While clinicians frequently cite patients’ older age and lack of technical skills as barriers to telehealth, it is unclear to what extent these beliefs influence clinician decision-making around whether to offer video telehealth to older adults.
  • Conclusion: By understanding the comprehensive factors influencing the initial offer of video telehealth, [providers] have multiple possible points of intervention to reduce the telehealth Digital Divide for older adults who continue to face access barriers.

Egg Consumption and Peripheral Arterial Disease in Older Adults: Modification by Dietary Pattern

  • Description: Some, but not all studies link egg consumption with cardiovascular disease (CVD), but none consider an association with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a subclinical marker of CVD), and none consider potential modification by dietary pattern. This study examines the longitudinal associations of egg consumption with PAD, and variation of associations within the context of dietary pattern in a large sample of older community dwelling men and women.
  • Conclusion: Results using this subclinical marker are reassuring and suggest that egg consumption does not contribute to CVD in older adults. For women already eating a heart-healthy diet, egg intake may further lower the risk of heart disease.

An Atypical Spinal Cord Injury from a Routine Fall

  • Description: In older adults, most spinal cord injuries (SCIs) are of traumatic origin. Falls account for 60% of all cases of SCI. Spinal stenosis, along with metastatic disease, osteoporosis, and atlantoaxial instability can predispose patients to SCIs. Presentation may be atypical in older adults. Weakness, unexplained numbness, and new onset incontinence are often incorrectly attributed to the aging process.
  • Conclusion: The presence of spinal stenosis is a common finding in older adults that should elicit questioning for a possible spinal cord injury even after routine falls.

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