The Relationship between Depression and Cognitive Impairment with Falls Leading to Fractures in Elderly

Fall is a major health problem among the elderly.This study has been done to investigate association between depression and cognitive impairment with falls in elderly referred to the selected hospitals in Tehran.
This was a hospital-based case-control study that carried out in Tehran, 2014. In this study, 225 elder adults (81 men and 144 women), including 75 cases (27 men and 48 women) and 150 controls (54 men and 96 women) referred to the 5 hospitals in the North, south, East, west and center of Tehran were assessed and compared. Minimal Mental Status Examination questionnaire (MMSE) and Geriatric Depression Scale were used to measure the cognitive status and depression, respectively. Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney, correlation and logistic regression model were used to data analysis in STATA version 12 software.
Results showed that odds ratio (OR) of fall in depressed elder people was 8.2 times higher than the elder people without depression. Also, OR of fall in elderly with cognitive impairment was 6.7 times higher than the elderly without cognitive impairment. The co-occurrence of depression and cognitive impairment is higher risk of fall than from each condition alone.
There is a significant positive relationship between depression and cognitive impairment with fall in elder people. It is recommended to health policy makers to provide appropriate educational programs for families in order to prevent these risk factors in elderly.