TITLE:
Psychological risk factors associated with falls among elderly people in Baghdad city, Iraq
AUTHORS:
Mohammed A. Abdal Qader, Rahmah Mohd. Amin, Shamsul Azhar Shah, Zaleha Md. Isa, Khalib Abdul Latif, Hasanain Faisal Ghazi
KEYWORDS:
Falls; Elderly; Depression; Fear from Fall; Baghdad
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.3 No.7,
October
18,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: Ageing of the population is one of the most important demographic facts that come to the foreground in the 21st century. Objective: To assess the relationship between psychological factors (depression, loneliness, using anti anxiety medication, fear from falls and internal displacement of the population) and falls among elderly people in Baghdad city, Iraq. Methods: A matched 1:1 community based case-control study involving 716 elderly respondents, recruited randomly from six Non Governmental Organization (NGO) in different areas of Baghdad. Interviews to each respondent were done accordingly. Geriatric depression scale (GDS) was used to assess the depression among the elderly people. Results: The minimum age for cases and controls was 60 years old while the maximum age for cases was 87 and for controls was 85 years old. The female was predominant than male, 53.6% to 46.4% respectively. The relation between depression, fear from fall, using anti anxiety medication, internal displacement and falls was statistically significant (p