The association between anorexia of aging and physical frailty: Results from the national center for geriatrics and gerontology's study of geriatric syndromes

Abstract

Objectives: The present study examined the association between anorexia of aging and physical frailty among older people.

Study design: An observational, cross-sectional cohort design was used with a sample of 4417 elderly Japanese citizens living in a community setting.

Main outcome measures: Frailty was operationalized as the following frailty components: slowness, weakness, exhaustion, low level of physical activity, and weight loss. Participants were grouped as non-frail, pre-frail, and frail, and categorized as anorexic or not using questionnaire cutoff scores. Measured covariates were as follows: sociodemographic variables, medical history, life style, body mass index, blood nutrition data, self-rated health, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function.

Results: The prevalence of anorexia of aging in each group was as follows: non-frail, 7.9%; pre-frail, 14.8%; frail, 21.2% (P for trend<0.001). After adjusting for all covariates, independent associations were identified between anorexia of aging and slowness (OR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.14-1.75, P=0.002), exhaustion (OR 1.39, 95% CI: 1.11-1.74, P=0.004) and weight loss (OR 1.37, 95% CI: 1.05-1.79, P=0.019), but not weakness or low level of physical activity.

Conclusions: Anorexia of aging is importantly associated with frailty and the following frailty components: slowness, exhaustion, and weight loss. Future research should prospectively examine frailty's causal connection with anorexia of aging.

Keywords: Anorexia of aging; Appetite loss; Frailty; Older people.