Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Frailty is associated with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors in community-dwelling older subjects

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background and aims

This study assessed the association between frailty and sociodemographic, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors in community-dwelling older people.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional survey in a population-based sample of 542 community-dwelling subjects aged 65 years and older living in a metropolitan area in Italy. Frailty was evaluated by means of the FRAIL scale proposed by the International Association of Nutrition and Aging. Basal and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL, IADL), physical activity, sociodemographic (age, gender, marital status and cohabitation), socioeconomic (education, economic conditions and occupational status) and lifestyle domains (cultural and technological fruition and social activation) were assessed through specific validated tools. Statistical analysis was performed through multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Impairments in ADL and IADL were significantly associated with frailty, while moderate and high physical activity were inversely associated with frailty. Moreover, regarding both socioeconomic variables and lifestyle factors, more disadvantaged socioeconomic conditions and low levels of cultural fruition were significantly associated with frailty.

Conclusions

Socioeconomic and lifestyle factors, particularly cultural fruition, are associated with frailty independently from functional impairment and low physical activity. Cultural habits may therefore represent a new target of multimodal interventions against geriatric frailty.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferrucci L, Guralnik JM, Studenski S et al (2004) Designing randomized, controlled trials aimed at preventing or delaying functional decline and disability in frail, older persons: a consensus report. J Am Geriatr Soc 52:625–634

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Clegg A, Young J, Iliffe S et al (2013) Frailty in elderly people. Lancet 381:752–762

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Marmot M, Wilkinson R (eds) (2006) Social determinants of health. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  4. Pampel FC, Krueger PM, Denney JT (2010) Socioeconomic disparities in health behaviors. Annu Rev Sociol 36:349–370

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. House JS, Lepkowski JM, Kinney AM et al (1994) The social stratification of aging and health. J Health Soc Behav 35:213–234

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Mirovsky J, Ross C (1998) Education, personal control, lifestyle and health: a human capital hypothesis. Res Aging 20:415–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Ross CE, Wu CL (1996) Education, age, and the cumulative advantage in health. J Health Soc Behav 37:104–120

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Seeman TE, Crimmins E, Huang M (2001) Social environment effects on health and aging: integrating epidemiologic and demographic approaches and perspectives. Ann N Y Acad Sci 954:88–117

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Gutierrez-Robledo LM, Avila-Funes JA (2012) How to include the social factor for determining frailty? J Frailty Aging 1:13–17

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Lang IA, Hubbard RE, Andrew MK et al (2009) Neighborhood deprivation, individual socioeconomic status, and frailty in older adults. J Am Geriatr Soc 57:1776–1780. doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02480.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Szanton SL, Seplaki CL, Thorpe RJ Jr et al (2010) Socioeconomic status is associated with frailty: the Women’s Health and Aging Studies. J Epidemiol Community Health 64:63–67. doi:10.1136/jech.2008.078428

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Etman A, Kamphuis CBM, van der Cammen TJM et al (2014) Do lifestyle, health and social participation mediate educational inequalities in frailty worsening? Eur J public Health 25:345–350. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cku093

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Soler-Vila H, García-Esquinas E, León-Muñoz LM et al (2016) Contribution of health behaviours and clinical factors to socioeconomic differences in frailty among older adults. J Epidemiol Community Health. doi:10.1136/jech-2015-206406

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Alvarado BE, Zunzunegui MV, Béland F et al (2008) Life course social and health conditions linked to frailty in Latin American older men and women. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 63:1399–1406

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Etman A, Burdorf A, Van der Cammen TJ et al (2012) Socio-demographic determinants of worsening in frailty among community-dwelling older people in 11 European countries. J Epidemiol Community Health 66:1116–1121. doi:10.1136/jech-2011-200027

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Rodríguez López S, Montero P, Carmenate M (2014) Educational inequalities and frailty in spain: what is the role of obesity? J Frailty Aging 3:120–125. doi:10.14283/jfa.2014.12

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Hoogendijk EO, van Hout HP, Heymans MW et al (2014) Explaining the association between educational level and frailty in older adults: results from a 13-year longitudinal study in the Netherlands. Ann Epidemiol 24:538–544. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2014.05.002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Herr M, Robine JM, Aegerter P et al (2015) Contribution of socioeconomic position over life to frailty differences in old age: comparison of life-course models in a French sample of 2350 old people. Ann Epidemiol 25:674–680. doi:10.1016/j.annepidem.2015.05.006

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Morley J, Malmstrom TK, Miller DK (2012) A simple frailty questionnaire (FRAIL) predicts outcomes in middle aged African Americans. J Nutr Health Aging 16:601–608

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Poli S, Pandolfini V (2016) Social factors and elderly frailty: an application of the frail scale in Italy. BMS. doi:10.1177/0759106316642720

    Google Scholar 

  21. Katz S (1983) Assessing self-maintenance: activities of daily living, mobility and instrumental activities of daily living. JAGS 31:721–726

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Lawton M, Brody E (1969) Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist 9:179–186

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Laslett P (1972) Famille et ménage. Annales 4–5:847–872

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Breen R (2007) Foundations of a neo-weberian class analysis. In: Wright EO (ed) Approaches to Class Analysis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 31–50

    Google Scholar 

  25. De Lillo A, Schizzerotto A (1985) La valutazione sociale delle occupazioni. Una scala di stratificazione occupazionale per l’Italia contemporanea. Il Mulino, Bologna

    Google Scholar 

  26. Erikson R, Goldthorpe JH (1992) The constant flux: a study on class mobility in industrial societies. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  27. Bourdieu P (1984) Distinction: a social critique of the judgement of taste, translated by Richard Nice. Harvard university Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  28. Cesareo V (ed) (2007) La distanza sociale: una ricerca nelle aree urbane italiane. FrancoAngeli, Milano

    Google Scholar 

  29. Selwyn N (2004) The information aged: a qualitative study of older adults’ use of information and communications technology. J Aging Stud 18:369–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Poli S (2014) Beyond stereotypes talent resources and social activity among the postmodern elderly. Res Aging Soc Polic 2:58–86

    Google Scholar 

  31. Bergman H, Ferrucci L, Guralnik J et al (2007) Frailty: an emerging research and clinical paradigm: issues and controversies. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 62:731–737

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  32. Waite LJ (2006) Marriage and family. In: Polston DL, Micklin M (eds) Handbook of population. Springer, New York, pp 87–108

    Google Scholar 

  33. Ross CE, Mirowsky J (2010) Why education is the key to socioeconomic differentials in health. In: Bird CE, Conrad P, Fremont AM, Timmermans S (eds) Handbook of medical sociology, 6th edn. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville

    Google Scholar 

  34. Hirsch C, Anderson ML, Newman A et al (2006) The association of race with frailty: the cardiovascular health study. Ann Epidemiol 16:545–553

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Woo J, Chan R, Leung J, Wong M (2010) Relative contributions of geographic, socioeconomic, and lifestyle factors to quality of life, frailty, and mortality in elderly. PLoS One 5:e8775

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Ferrucci L, Windham BG, Fried LP (2005) Frailty in older persons. Genus 56:39–53

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

    Stefano Poli, Beba Molinari, Valeria Pandolfini & Claudio Torrigiani

  2. Department Geriatric Care, OrthoGeriatrics and Rehabilitation, E.O. Galliera Hospital, National Relevance and High Specialization, Genova, Italy

    Alberto Cella, Clarissa Musacchio, Monica Pomata, Domenico Torriglia, Natalia Vello & Alberto Pilotto

  3. Clinical Trial Unit, Scientific Direction, E.O. Galliera Hospital, National Relevance and High Specialization, Genova, Italy

    Matteo Puntoni

Authors
  1. Stefano Poli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alberto Cella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matteo Puntoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Clarissa Musacchio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Monica Pomata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Domenico Torriglia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Natalia Vello
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Beba Molinari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Valeria Pandolfini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Claudio Torrigiani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Alberto Pilotto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stefano Poli.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Human and animal rights

The research was approved by the Ethical Committee of Di.S.For., University of Genoa, in adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent

Informed consent was given by participants.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 36 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Poli, S., Cella, A., Puntoni, M. et al. Frailty is associated with socioeconomic and lifestyle factors in community-dwelling older subjects. Aging Clin Exp Res 29, 721–728 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-016-0623-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-016-0623-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation