The Mediating Effect of Frailty in the Relationship between Depression and Falls among Older People Living Alone in Korea

We explored the potential mediating role of frailty in the relationship between depression and falls.

The participants were 1,408 community-dwelling older people living alone in South Korea. The potential mediating role of frailty in the relationship between depression and falls wasevaluated through univariate and mul-tivariate logistic regression. Baron and Kenny’s three-step criteria for mediation were used to examine the mediating effect.

Frailty fullymediated theassociation between severe depression and falls in univariate (t=11.58, P<.05)and multivariate (t=10.42, P<.05)analyses.

Frailty is a valuable target for fall interventions in severely depressed older people living alone.