| Resumo: | Background: Falls have a high incidence in old age people and it results in severe consequences representing a public health problem. Falls are the second worldwide cause of accidental deaths (1). The literature shows that people with high depression and anxiety symptoms have impaired balance and this is more problematic in old age people (12). Some studies have shown a relationship between depression/anxiety symptoms and balance (18) however little is known how just anxiety symptoms affect balance. It is also unknown which systems responsible for balance are more affected/preserved in this population in the absence or presence of different levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. Aim: The aims of this study were to explore: the balance differences between old age people with presence/absence of anxiety and depression symptoms and how balance may be affected/preserved by the different levels of anxiety and depression symptoms in the same population. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted. The protocol included socio-demographic, anthropometric and general clinical data. Balance confidence was evaluated with the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC), the balance with the Balance Evaluation System Test (BESTest) and with the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). The level of significance considered was set at p<0.05. Results: 136 old age people with a mean age of 75.9±8.8 years old, participated in this study. All BESTest sections were significantly affected by the presence of anxiety or depression symptoms (p<0.001). Similar results were observed in BBS (p<0.001). However, the Reactive section presented the larger difference between present or not present (49.4±21.1 vs 84.2±14.9; p<0.001) of anxiety symptoms and present or not present (46.3±30.3 vs 88.5±15.3; p<0.001) depression symptoms. Participants’ balance confidence (ABC) was also decrease significantly in both of cases (respectively: p=0.010; p=0.001). The severity of the symptoms influenced significantly the balance (BBS (anxiety: p=0.013; depression: p=0.029) and BESTest (0.001<p>0.046). However, balance confidence shows not be significantly affected by the level of both of symptoms (anxiety: p=0.516; depression: p=0.274). Conclusion: The presence of anxiety and depression symptoms significantly decreases balance performance and balance confidence in old age people. Additionally, the severity of symptoms significantly decreases balance performance but do not seem to significantly impact on balance confidence.
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