Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Φυσιολογία της Γήρανσης και Γηριατρικά ΣύνδρομαLibrary of the School of Health Sciences
Author:
Kravariti Evmorfia
Supervisors info:
Αντώνιος Πολίτης, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Παναγιώτης Αλεξόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΠΓΝΠ
Ευρυδίκη Κραββαρίτη, Ακαδημαϊκή Υπότροφος, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Σύνδρομο φόβου πτώσης και κατάθλιψη στην τρίτη ηλικία
Translated title:
Fear of falling and depression in older adults
Summary:
Fear of falling is one of the most common phobias in old age and seems to be associated with depressive symptoms and increase the frequency of falls, consequently burdening the quality of life of older people. The main objective of this systematic review is the investigation of the contemporary international literature with respect to the correlation of depressive disorders with the development of fear of falling. Search for relevant articles was conducted through the international data bases PubMed and SCOPUS and the article selection was based on specific criteria. The selection criteria included observational clinical studies or cohort studies on elderly individuals in the community aged 50 years or more in English language from 2010 to 2021. Moreover, they included statistical data on the direct or indirect correlation of depressive symptoms with symptoms of fear of falling and/or risk of falling and/or frequency of falls among the elderly. Articles concerning the correlation of depressive symptoms and fear of falling due to specific pathologies were excluded. The process of selection from both databases resulted to 9 articles the features of which complied with the selection criteria. The main conclusion of this review is that the correlation of depressive symptoms with fear of falling and frequency of falls among the elderly is unambiguous despite the relatively limited number of studies focusing specifically on this correlation. This correlation is potentially mediated by common prognostic factors such as activity limitation, gait alterations and history of falls. Therefore, appropriate management of depressive symptoms might contribute to improved management of fear of falling and falls prevention. Generally, contemporary data on the correlation of depression with fear of falling suggest that systematic assessment for depressive symptoms is imperative for elderly people with fear of falling or history of falls.
Main subject category:
Health Sciences
Keywords:
Fear of falling, Elderly, Depression, Fall, Fear
File:
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Kravariti_Evmorfia_MSc.pdf
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