ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2021
Antidepressant Use Partially Mediates the Association Between Depression and Risk of Falls and Fall Injuries Among Older Adults.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Brain-bone axis dysregulation: Biological code underlying the bidirectional association between depression and musculoskeletal disorders.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Review
- Examining the relationship between fear of falling and depression in older adults in Turkey.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Associations Between Multiple Falls and Mental Health Indices in Korean Older Adults: A Cross-sectional Study.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2025Article
- The impact of depression and cardiovascular disease on fall risk in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a gender and sleep status analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Injurious Fall Risk Differences Among Older Adults With First-Line Depression Treatments.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Low physical activity and depression are the prominent predictive factors for falling in older adults: the Birjand Longitudinal Aging Study (BLAS).BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Life satisfaction among persons living with dementia and those without dementia.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2023Article
- A prospective cohort study of the impact of chronic disease on fall injuries in middle-aged and older adults.Open medicine (Warsaw, Poland) · 2023Article
- Associations of poor sleep quality, chronic pain and depressive symptoms with frailty in older patients: is there a sex difference?BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- The Incidence of Falls and Related Factors among Chinese Elderly Community Residents in Six Provinces.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The role of frailty in the association between depression and fall risk among older adults.Aging & mental health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe association between depression and fall risk in older adults is recognized, yet the mechanisms underlying this association are unclear. This study estimated the mediating role of antidepressant use in the association between depression and falls and fall injuries.
methodsLongitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2006) were linked with medication data from the Prescription Drug Study (2005). The sample included community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 with data on depression and medication use (n = 3565). Depression was measured using 2 independent survey tools: Composite International Diagnostic Interview for depression short form and an 8-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. We used causal mediation analysis to estimate and compare the direct and indirect (mediated by antidepressant use) effects of depression on falls and fall injuries.
resultsIndividuals with major depressive disorder were significantly more likely to experience a fall (OR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.41, 2.62) and a fall injury (OR: 1.67; 95% CI: 1.09, 2.55) over 2 years. Indirect effect estimates showed that antidepressant medication use accounted for approximately 19% and 18% of the association between major depressive disorder and falls and fall injuries, respectively. Results were similar when using an alternative depression measure and when considering only selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants.
conclusionsAntidepressant use explains a significant proportion, but not a majority, of the association between depression and greater fall risk. Treatment benefits of antidepressants should be considered with, and may outweigh, concerns about increased risk of falls associated with antidepressant use.
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