Prevalence of frailty and its relation with psychosocial and economical inequity in a national sample of Japanese older adults

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H01555
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Epidemiology and preventive medicine
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology
• Principal Investigator: SHINKAI Shoji 地方独立行政法人東京都健康長寿医療センター(東京都健康長寿医療センター研究所), 東京都健康長寿医療センター研究所, 副所長 (60171063)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 秋山 弘子 東京大学, 高齢社会総合研究機構, 教授 (10292731)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: フレイル / 全国高齢者代表標本 / 縦断研究 / 格差

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Prevalence of frailty based on Fried and colleagues’ criteria was shown using home-visit interview data for a nationwide probability sample of older Japanese aged 65 and over: 8.7% “frail”, 40.8% “prefrail”, and 50.5% “robust”. Women, people with older age, and those with lower socioeconomic status had higher proportion of frailty than their counterparts. Compared to being robust, being frail and prefrail showed a higher risk for all adverse health outcomes five years later, which suggests the validity of the frailty criteria used. Moreover, analyses on the five-year transition in frailty status showed that participation in social activities and positive attitudes toward one’s life could prevent older people from worsening frailty status, although effective types of activities and their frequency may vary by gender.

Free Research Field

老年学、公衆衛生学、疫学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、全国代表標本データを用い、日本人高齢者のフレイルの分布と5年間の変化の実態を初めて明らかにした点で意義が大きい。本研究の知見が、今後の我が国のフレイル対策の基礎資料として活用されることが期待できる。また、日本では、握力や歩行などのパフォーマンスに基づく身体機能の測定は、これまで会場招聘型の調査において把握されてきたが、訪問面接調査による本研究の手法は、自力で会場に来るのが困難な高齢者などより幅広い高齢者を対象としたフレイルの実態把握に役立つことが期待される。