Association Between Depressive Symptoms in Spousal Caregivers and Falls in Care Recipients With Disability: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

Abstract

To investigate the association between depressive symptoms in spousal caregivers and both fall risk and the frequency of falls requiring medical treatment in care recipients with disabilities. A retrospective cohort study. Data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. 1357 patient-caregiver dyads. Not applicable. The incidence of falls and the frequency of falls requiring medical treatment among care recipients. The mean (standard deviation) age of care recipients was 61.6 (9.1) years, and 62.1% of them were women. After adjusting for covariates, it was found that caregiver depressive symptoms were associated with a 32% higher risk of falls (relative risk [RR], 1.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08-1.61). Moreover, caregivers who exhibited depressive symptoms only at follow-up had a RR of falls requiring medical treatment of 2.74 (95% CI, 1.28-5.88), whereas those who had depressive symptoms at both the baseline and follow-up had a RR of 2.13 (95% CI, 1.19-3.80). The likelihood ratio test showed that grouping depressive symptoms significantly improved the model fit for both fall risk (likelihood ratio [LR] χ²(3)=8.89, P=.031) and falls requiring medical treatment (LR χ²(3)=14.50, P=.002). Caregiver depressive symptoms are significantly associated with an increased risk of falls and a higher frequency of falls requiring medical treatment among care recipients with disabilities. Addressing the mental health of caregivers may help reduce fall-related risks in this population.