Relationship between Frailty and Depression in a Population from North-Eastern Romania

Abstract

(1) Background: In the older population, depression often affects people with chronic medical illnesses, cognitive impairment, or disability. Frailty is another important issue affecting older adults, being difficult to clinically distinguish from frailty in advanced old age. Well-designed interventional studies and clinical strategies targeting both frailty and depression are rare or nonexistent. (2) Methods: We realized a retrospective study in which we included a total of 411 patients that were admitted to the Geriatric Clinic from “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Hospital from Iasi for a period of 13 months. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between depression and frailty in a geriatric population due to the fact that the quality of life is negatively influenced by both frailty and depression. (3) Results: The prevalence of the depressive symptoms screened by the GDS-15 was 66.7%, with women being more depressed than men. Furthermore, an obvious relationship between depression and the dependence degree in performing daily activities has been observed. In addition, the mean MMSE score decreased with an increasing degree of depression. (4) Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the association between frailty and depression, one of them being a risk factor in the development of the other. A poor acknowledgment of the problem and an underdiagnosis of these conditions are important public health concerns due to the high healthcare costs. Thus, an active primary prevention would be imperiously needed in order to diagnose frailty and depression at an early stage, increasing the quality of life of the elderly and also their successful aging.

Association between frailty and depression: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

“…Numerous epidemiological studies have found associations between frailty and depression. For example, a retrospective study of 411 patients in the Geriatric Clinic of "Dr. C. I. Parhon" Hospital found that frailty was positively associated with depression (6). A cross-sectional study of 80 patients showed depression was associated with the presence of frailty among patients with chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis (7).…”

Predictive Role of Depressive Symptoms on Frailty and its Components in Chinese Middle-Aged and Older Adults: a Longitudinal Analysis

“…Previous researches have reported differences in the relationship between depressive symptoms and the incidence of frailty [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Meanwhile, there have been few ndings regarding the relationship between the middle-aged and the elderly in China.…”

“…Several studies focused more on the possible negative impact of depression on frailty [15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. To date, a limited amount of research has explored the in uence of depression on frailty and its components over a period of years.…”

“…In the Geriatric Clinic of “Dr. C. I. Parhon” Hospital, a retrospective study involving 411 patients found that frailty is positively correlated with depression [ 19 ]. Prospective studies of the connection between depression and incident frailty also showed that depression may raise the risk of frailty [ 20 ].…”

“…A recent meta-analysis, which combines four cohorts and ten cross-sectional observational studies, involving 84,351 community elderly, con rmed that older adults can become frail by depression and that older men with depression are more likely to become frail than their female counterparts [18]. In the Geriatric Clinic of "Dr. C. I. Parhon" Hospital, a retrospective study involving 411 patients found that frailty is positively correlated with depression [19]. Prospective studies of the connection between depression and incident frailty also showed that depression may raise the risk of frailty [20].…”