Anxiety without comorbid depression is associated with less risk of falling, even when comparing people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) without depression or anxiety, according to a recent study. This study included 122 PwMS (75 women) divided into 4 subgroups according to their manifestation of depression and anxiety assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (ie, no depression/no anxiety, depression/no anxiety, no depression/anxiety, and depression/anxiety). Cognitive performance was evaluated via a computerized cognitive battery of tests. Participants were defined as “fallers” and “non-fallers” based on their fall history recorded during a clinical interview. Researchers found:

• 38 PwMS (31.1%) were classified as depressed (mean HADS 11.1, SD=3.4), 52 (42.6%) were classified as anxious (mean HADS 11.1, SD=3.1), and 56 (45.9%) were neither depressed nor anxious.
• PwMS categorized in the anxiety/non-depressed subgroup were 6 times less likely to fall than PwMS without depression or anxiety (OR=0.160).
• In terms of global cognitive status, depressed PwMS with anxiety were almost 4 times more likely to experience cognitive impairments compared to PwMS who were not depressed or anxious.