Depression And Antidepressants Increase Risk Of Falling In Later Life
generic clomid online buy Older people have a high risk for falls and the ensuing injuries. This
risk, according to an article released on June 17, 2008 in the
open-access journal PLoS ONE, is increased by the
presence of depression, and increased even more with medication for
depression.
Falls are a common problem in seniors, who often have
impaired reflexes and strength. As depression is diagnosed,
these same patients are often administered medication, including
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which form the most
commonly prescribed family of antidepressants.
According to the published article, depression has been previously
correlated with falls: "People with depression and those taking
antidepressants, especially
SSRIs, are 50% more likely to fall than other older people," said lead
author and associate professor Ngaire Kerse. He additionally pointed
out the importance of falls in caring for the elderly, as they are
"very common and risk factors for falls are easy to identify. "
To investigate the relationships between falls, depression, and the
administration of antidepressants, a team of New Zealand and Australian
researchers studied the GE-DEPS study, which was created to test the
effects of education on patterns of management of depression. In it,
all general practitioners in Australia asked all of their patients
older than 60 years to respond to a survey, of which 21,900 of them
complied. Of these, 24% reported at least one fall in the last
year, 11% had injured themselves by falling, and 8% needed to
subsequently see a doctor. Some symptoms of depression were reported in
about one quarter of participants, while 12% were under medication from
an antidepressant, and 6% were being administered SSRIs specifically.
When examining the data, a correlation was seen between using any
antidepressant and falling, but an even higher risk was seen when
subjects were using SSRIs, with a 66% increase in falls. In fact,
having any degree of depression was assoicated with a 70% increase in
risk to have multiple falls and injury. Other relationships were
discovered as well, for instance: ever having thought about suicide,
having a stroke, having arthritis, or having more than three medical
problems were associated with having more than one fall.
Finally, women were more likely to sustain injury from a fall than men.
These data marks a step forward in understanding the relationship
between these variables. "This risk associated with SSRIs has been
reported before but not in
such a large group of older people living in the community," Kerse
said."More
than 60% of women aged over 80 with depression and taking an SSRI fell
in the last year. This means that falls prevention strategies must
really be thought of when prescribing antidepressants for older people."
This clearly indicates the need to be aware of this risk when managing
the health care of seniors: "Falls are important for all older people,"
Kerse said. "But in people
with depression, falls add to the consequences of depression.
There is an
opportunity to offer fall prevention strategies as part of the initial
treatment for depression in patients and as part of ongoing treatment."
Some of these strategies are recommended by the researchers, including
lower leg strengthening and balance retraining. It might also include
home assessment and modification programs to reduce hazards, to ensure
appropriate lighting, remove obstacles, and install transfer rails, all
of which are fall prevention strategies.
They add that family members need to be a part of this treatment. "We
need to increase the awareness among family members on fall
prevention," Kerse said. "More than one-third of patients
with
depression will fall and the consequences can be disastrous.
Our
findings emphasize the need to incorporate fall prevention strategies
in stroke services." He concluded: "We need to emphasise fall
prevention during treatment of depression in older people."
Falls, Depression and Antidepressants in Later Life: A Large
Primary Care Appraisal.
PLoS ONE 3(6): e2423.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002423
Click
Here For Full Length Article
Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
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