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Anokha Padubidri,1,2 Soham Al Snih,2,3 Rafael Samper-Ternent,2,4 Kyriakos S Markides,2,5 Kenneth J Ottenbacher,2,3 Mukaila A Raji2,6 1College of Medicine, Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA; 2Sealy Center on Aging, 3Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, SchoolofHealth Professions, the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA; 4Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario San Ignacio, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Columbia; 5Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, 6Department of Internal Medicine, the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA Background: Little is known about long-term emotional and cognitive consequences of falls. We examined the association between falls and subsequent cognitive decline, and tested the hypothesis that depression would mediate any falls–cognition association among cognitively intact Hispanic Elders. Methods: We used data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly to examine change in Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores over the6-year period according to number of falls. All participants (N=1,119) had MMSE scores ≥21and complete data on Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression Scale, social and demographic factors, medical conditions (diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and hypertension), and hand grip muscle strength. Results: At baseline, participants’ mean age was80.8years (range,74–109), mean ­education was6.3years (range,0–17), and mean MMSE was25.2(range,21–30). Of the1,119­participants, 15.8% experienced one fall and14.4% had two or more falls. In mixed model analyses, having two or more falls was associated with greater decline in MMSE score (estimate=–0.81, standard error =0.19, P