Relationship between Lifestyle and Frailty among Iranian Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: Aging affects physical, mental, and social functions, which can lead to an increase in frailty. Old adults with frailty syndrome are prone to disabilities and hospitalization. Lifestyle is a context-based factor that has the potential to prevent frailty. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the relationship between lifestyle and frailty among Iranian community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN, SETTING: This is a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study. The participants were 513 older adults over 60 years by the convenience sampling method from the retirement center. MEASUREMENTS: Data were collected using Tilberg’s frailty index, the Iranian elderly lifestyle questionnaire, and the Mini-Cog test. Data were analyzed with SPSS v.26 software by chi-square and logistic regression tests. RESULTS: The age of the participants was 66.43 ± 4.69 years. The male-to-female sex ratio was 1.5 (39.2% women). The lifestyle of 96 (19.3%) old adults was unfavorable. 18.7 percent of older adults had Frailty syndrome. The logistic regression test showed that moderate and favorable lifestyle (OR= 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02-0.16), age over 75 years (OR= 5.25; 95% CI: 2.35-11.69), retired employment status (OR= 0.13; 95% CI: 0.29-0.05) are factors that have a significant relationship with frailty (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: The findings showed that lifestyle can predict frailty. Therefore, it seems that an optimal lifestyle can prevent the frailty of older adults.