Stenroth SM, Pynnönen K, Haapanen MJ, Vuoskoski P, Mikkola TM, Eriksson JG, von Bonsdorff MB. Association between resilience and frailty in older age: Findings from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr 2023;
115:105119. [PMID:
37473691 DOI:
10.1016/j.archger.2023.105119]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 06/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Resilience, a capacity to cope with adversity, has been linked to better functioning and health in older age. However, little is still known about resilience in relation to frailty. We explored whether resilience would be associated with frailty in older age and if we would observe differences in association between resilience and frailty according to the type of adversity.
METHODS
The study included 681 participants from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, born in Helsinki between 1934 and 1944. Adversities in older age and resilience were assessed between 2015 and 2018 with the Hardy-Gill resilience scale, scores ranging from 0 (low) to 18 (high resilience). Frailty was assessed in 2017-18 by using a deficit accumulation-based Frailty Index with a scale from 0 to 1. Adversities were coded into categories by using a data-driven approach. A linear regression analysis was used to explore the association between resilience and frailty.
RESULTS
Resilience was inversely associated with frailty in older age (β -0.009, 95% CI -0.011 to -0.007, p<0.001). The association was observed for all other type of adversities except adversity in relationships and economical adversity.
DISCUSSION
A higher resilience was related to lower levels of frailty in older age. Differences in association between resilience and frailty were observed according to the type of adversity. Focusing on the type of adverse events and the capacity to "bounce back" after an adversity in older age may reveal new perspectives on how to prevent and postpone frailty.
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