Dietary Patterns and Frailty in Older Korean Adults: Results from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study

Relationships among tooth loss, prefrailty, and dietary patterns in community-dwelling older Japanese females: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Poor oral health has been predicted the development of frailty and sarcopenia as well as the subsequent need for long-term care. This cross-sectional study examined the relationships among tooth loss, prefrailty, and dietary patterns in community-dwelling older Japanese females.

SUBJECTS/METHODS

Information on the number of teeth, food consumption, and lifestyle factors was collected from 271 participants aged ≥ 65 yrs using a questionnaire. The number of teeth was self-reported and classified into 2 groups: natural teeth ≥ 20 and natural teeth < 20. Prefrailty was assessed using the Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study. Three dietary patterns ("vegetables and dairy products" [VD], "rice and fish and shellfish" [RF], and "bread and beverages") were adopted from a cluster analysis of the intakes of 20 foods evaluated using the Food Frequency Questionnaire. The odds ratios (ORs) for prefrailty and dietary patterns were calculated using a binary logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 267 participants were analyzed, excluding those with frailty (n = 4). The rates of natural teeth < 20 and prefrailty were 57.3 and 37.4%, respectively. Natural teeth < 20 was positively correlated with prefrailty (OR, 4.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.54-8.52) and inversely correlated with VD pattern (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.27-0.69). Furthermore, both VD (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.16-0.91) and RF (OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.11-0.62) patterns were inversely correlated with prefrailty.

CONCLUSIONS

Maintaining the number of natural teeth ≥ 20 into old age plays an important role in preventing a prefrailty. The promotion of VD and RF dietary patterns has potential as an effective nutritional strategy for preventing tooth loss and prefrailty.

Dietary factors in relation to the risk of cognitive impairment and physical frailty in Chinese older adults: a prospective cohort study

PURPOSE

The study aimed to investigate the independent associations of dietary factors with cognitive impairment (CI) and physical frailty (PF) among Chinese older adults.

METHODS

This study included 10,734 participants (mean age = 78.7 years) free of CI and PF at baseline from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey. Dietary intake was collected using a simplified food frequency questionnaire every 3-4 years. The Chinese version Mini-Mental State Examination was used to assess cognition function, participants with a score below 18 were defined as CI. PF was defined using the activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and functional limitation-related questions. The outcome was defined as the first onset of either CI or PF. Competing risk models were used to estimate the corresponding hazard ratios (HRs) and the 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).

RESULTS

During the study follow-up (mean = 8.1 years), a total of 1220 CI cases and 1451 PF cases were newly identified. Higher frequency of fruits intake was associated with a lower hazard of CI (HR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.58-0.97), whereas higher intake of preserved vegetables demonstrated an opposite association (HR = 1.23, 95% CI 1.07-1.42). In terms of PF, we observed a lower risk associated with higher meat and poultry intake (HR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.61-0.88). In particular, a significant protective association of fish and aquatic products intake with PF was observed among participants with ≥ 28 natural teeth (HR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.27-0.99).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest divergent roles of major dietary factors in the development of CI and PF among Chinese older adults.

Associations Between Specific Diets, Dietary Diversity, and Cognitive Frailty in Older Adults - China, 2002-2018

What is already known about this topic?

The relationship between specific dietary patterns and dietary diversity with cognitive frailty continues to be a subject of ambiguity.

What is added by this report?

This research revealed that regular consumption of fruit, meat, bean products, garlic, and tea was connected to a decreased risk of cognitive frailty. Compared to participants with dietary diversity score (DDS) ≤6 points, those with DDS of 9-10, 11-12, and ≥12 had a lower risk of cognitive frailty.

What are the implications for public health practice?

The results of the study corroborate the relationship between the augmented consumption frequency of meat, fruit, bean products, garlic, and tea, in conjunction with an elevated DDS, and an increased risk of developing cognitive frailty.

Risk factors for frailty in older adults

AIMS

To clarify the risk factors for frailty to help doctors prevent diseases that cause weakness, through early interventions.

METHODS

We searched the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases to identify all relevant studies using the items "frailty," "weak," "risk factors," and "predictive factors" and compared their results. The aging population (≥65 years old) was divided into 2 groups, a "frailty group" and a "robust control group," and then the characteristics, lifestyles, and comorbidities were compared.

RESULTS

We compared the influence of baseline and concomitant diseases on frailty in the elderly respectively, and the analysis of the influence of baseline on frailty found that increasing age, lower weight, female sex, living alone, low levels of exercise, polypharmacy, higher education level, smoking, drinking, malnutrition, and lower vitamin D levels were associated with aging individuals being more likely to experience frailty. The data about concomitant diseases had shown that diabetes, hearing dysfunction, cognitive impairment, poor sleep, a history of falls, pain, and depression can increase the risk of frailty among the elderly population.

CONCLUSION

Characteristics, comorbidities, and lifestyle factors can impact the occurrence of frailty, and relevant influencing factors should be considered.

The Inverse Association of Sarcopenia and Protein-Source Food and Vegetable Intakes in the Korean Elderly: The Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study

The aging population contributes to increasing economic and social burden worldwide. Sarcopenia, an age-related degenerative disease and progressive disorder, is characterized by a reduction in skeletal muscle mass and function. This study aims to assess the association between dietary factors and sarcopenia in the Korean elderly using nationwide data. A total of 801 subjects aged 70–84 years were included in this analysis. Subjects were divided into two groups: sarcopenic and nonsarcopenic groups according to the sarcopenia criteria established by the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia. Nutrient and food intakes were assessed using a 24-h recall method. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between sarcopenia and food group and nutrient intakes. In the multivariable models, the meat/fish/egg/legume food group, vegetable group, and total food intake were inversely associated with the prevalence of sarcopenia. The high intakes of energy, carbohydrate, protein, fiber, zinc, carotene, and vitamin B₆ were associated with the lower prevalence of sarcopenia. Therefore, consuming sufficient nutrients through various protein source foods and vegetables will help prevent sarcopenia in the Korean elderly.

Association between social capital and frailty and the mediating effect of health-promoting lifestyles in Chinese older adults: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

To explore the association between social capital and frailty and the mediating effect of health-promoting lifestyles among Chinese older adults, while providing scientific evidence for frailty intervention.

METHODS

In May 2021, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 674 Chinese older adults in Changsha city. Data was collected using the Chinese Shortened Social Capital Scale (comprising structural social capital and cognitive social capital as two subscales), a simplified version of the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile and the Tilburg Frailty Indicator. Linear regression analysis was used to examine the association between social capital and frailty. Structural equation modeling was used to test the mediating effect of health-promoting lifestyles.

RESULTS

Cognitive social capital was significantly negatively associated with frailty and its three dimensions (physical, psychological, and social frailty), but structural social capital was not. Health-promoting lifestyles played a mediating role in the associations of cognitive social capital with frailty, physical and psychological frailty, but not with social frailty.

CONCLUSIONS

Higher cognitive social capital was associated with a reduced likelihood of frailty. The health-promoting lifestyles partially mediated the association between cognitive social capital and frailty. The use of health-promoting lifestyles or appropriate cognitive social capital interventions may reduce frailty among older adults.

Dietary Pattern Accompanied with a High Food Variety Score Is Negatively Associated with Frailty in Older Adults

Proper nutrition is a modifiable factor in preventing frailty. This study was conducted to identify the association between dietary patterns and frailty in the older adult population. The cross-sectional analysis was performed on 4632 subjects aged ≥65 years enrolled in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2014–2018. Food variety score (FVS) was defined as the number of foods items consumed over a day. Three dietary patterns were identified using factor analysis: “white rice and salted vegetables,” “vegetables, oils, and fish,” and “noodles and meat.” The higher “white rice and salted vegetables” pattern score was related to significantly lower FVS, whereas higher “vegetables, oils, and fish” and “noodles and meat” pattern scores were associated with a higher FVS. Participants with higher FVS showed a low risk of frailty (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI) = 0.44 (0.31–0.61), p-trend = 0.0001) than those with lower FVS. Moreover, the “vegetables, oils, and fish” pattern score was significantly associated with a low risk of frailty (OR (95% CI) = 0.55 (0.40–0.75), p-trend = 0.0002). These results suggested that consuming a dietary pattern based on vegetables, oils, and fish with high FVS might ameliorate frailty in older adults.