Life events triggered frailty-related eating behaviors of older adults

Abstract

Background & aims

Support to improve eating behavior could be an effective strategy for preventing frailty, if support is provided at the appropriate time. This study aimed to explore the life events that affect the eating behaviors associated with frailty.

Methods

A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in 2023, and 1200 older adults aged 65–74 years participated. The Kihon Checklist was used to assess frailty status: robustness, prefrailty, or frailty. Thirteen potential frailty-related eating behaviors, adapted from a previous qualitative study, were evaluated for associations with frailty status using ordinal logistic regression models with adjustments. Life events that affected frailty-related behaviors were summarized.

Results

Overall, the proportions of individuals with robustness, prefrailty, and frailty were 40.5 %, 39.1 %, and 20.4 %, respectively. The men with frailty were more likely to have light lunches (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) [95 % confidence interval]: 2.13 [1.26–3.60]) and were less likely to have Westernized meals (aOR: 0.52 [0.30–0.90]), eat together (aOR: 0.39 [0.18–0.85]), go shopping (aOR: 0.44 [0.20–0.97]), and habituate to clean-up (aOR: 0.47 [0.26–0.86]), which were affected mainly by being married or retired. The women with frailty were less likely to have protein-rich foods (aOR: 0.10 [0.02–0.41]), eat together (aOR: 0.43 [0.20–0.93]), and go shopping (aOR: 0.19 [0.06–0.58]), which were affected mainly by getting married.

Conclusion

Nutritional support at retirement and changes in marital status may be effective ways to prevent unfavorable eating behaviors that contribute to frailty. Further studies are needed to capture the whole picture of the life events that affect frailty-related eating behaviors.