Prefrailty: The Relationship Between Daily Activities and Social Participation in Older Persons

Prefrailty: The Relationship Between Daily Activities and Social Participation in Older Persons ■

Axelle Costenoble, Veerle Knoop, Aziz Debain, Sofie Vermeiren, Roberta Vella Azzopardi, Gina Rossi, Celeste Smeys, Keren Duarte Baltazar, Ivan Bautmans, Dominique Verte, Ellen Gorus, Patricia De Vriendt, Ingo Beyer, Mirko Petrovic, Nico De Witte, Tinie Kardol, Peter Clarys, Aldo Scafoglieri, Eric Cattrysse, Paul de Hert, Bart Jansen

Abstract ■

OBJECTIVES: To analyze prefrailty's relationship with limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) and restrictions in social participation.METHOD: Robust (Fried 0/4; n = 214; Mage = 82.3 years [SD ±2.1]) and prefrail (Fried 1-2/4; n = 191; Mage = 83.8 years [SD ±3.2]) community-dwelling older individuals were included. Frailty scores were obtained from weight loss, exhaustion, gait speed, and grip strength. A total disability index (DI) expressed dependency for basic (b-), instrumental (i-), and advanced (a-)ADLs. Total participation score, being a member, total number of memberships, being a board member, level of participation, membership over time, volunteering, and formal participation represented social participation.RESULTS: Logistic regression retained age (OR = 1.224; 95% CI = [1.122, 1.335]), sex (OR = 3.818; 95% CI = [2.437, 5.982]), and a-ADL-DI (OR = 1.230; 95% CI = [1.018, 1.486]) as variables significantly related to prefrailty (68.3%; χ2 = 68.25; df = 3; p < .001).DISCUSSION: Subtle limitations in a-ADLs, higher age, and being a man were associated with prefrailty, revealing the possible role of personal and culturally related a-ADLs as red flags for (pre)frailty.