Summary
Published Date: April 01, 2017
Falls are common among older adults and may be related to depressive symptoms (DS). With advancing age, there is an onset of chronic conditions, sensory impairments, and activity limitations that are associated with falls and with depressive disorders. Prior cross-sectional studies have observed significant associations between DS and subsequent falls as well as between fractures and subsequent clinical depression and DS.
Using 2006–2010 Health and Retirement Study data, cross-lagged panel structural equation models were used to evaluate associations between falls and DS among 7,233 community-dwelling adults age 65 and older. Structural coefficients between falls and DS were estimated. Controlling for baseline (2006) physical functioning, vision, chronic conditions, and social support and neighborhood social cohesion, falls were not associated with subsequent DS, but a 0.5 standard deviation increase in 2006 DS was associated with a 30 percent increase in fall risk two years later. This DS-falls relationship was no longer significant when use of psychiatric medications, which was positively associated with falls, was included in the model.Publication Authors:
- Geoffrey J. Hoffman
- Ron D. Hays
- Steven P. Wallace, PhD
- Martin Shapiro
- Susan L. Ettner, PhD