Differences in the Prevalence of and Factors Associated with Frailty in Five Japanese Residential Areas

Takumi Abe, Akihiko Kitamura, Satoshi Seino, Yuri Yokoyama, Hidenori Amano, Yu Taniguchi, Mariko Nishi, Miki Narita, Tomoko Ikeuchi, Yui Tomine, Yoshinori Fujiwara and Shoji Shinkai
Additional contact information
Takumi Abe: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Akihiko Kitamura: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Satoshi Seino: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yuri Yokoyama: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Hidenori Amano: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yu Taniguchi: Center for Health and Environmental Risk Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba 305-0053, Japan
Mariko Nishi: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Miki Narita: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Tomoko Ikeuchi: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yui Tomine: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Yoshinori Fujiwara: Research Team for Social Participation and Community Health, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan
Shoji Shinkai: Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-9

Abstract: This study aimed to examine area differences in the prevalence of and factors associated with frailty. This cross-sectional study included metropolitan (eastern and western areas), suburban (districts A and B), and rural areas of Japan ( n = 9182, woman 50.9%). Frailty was defined by using a standardized questionnaire comprising three subcategories (fall, nutritional status, and social activities). The prevalence of frailty in the five areas was 14.2% to 30.6% for men and 11.5% to 21.4% for women. The areas with a high frailty prevalence had a significantly lower nutritional status or social activity, or both. Compared to the western metropolitan area, among men, the multivariable-adjusted prevalence ratio (APR) of frailty was significantly higher in the eastern metropolitan area and lower in suburban district A, and among women, the eastern metropolitan and rural areas had significantly higher APRs. Area-stratified multiple Poisson regression analysis showed that age, bone and joint disease, and a subjective economic status were associated with frailty in most areas and that some factors were area-specific, i.e., living alone (for men living in metropolitan areas) and underweight (for women living in suburban areas). The frailty prevalence differed by area, even after multivariable adjustment. Area-specific characteristics and factors associated with frailty may result in area differences.

Keywords: area difference; community; frail; living area; location (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3974/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3974/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:20:p:3974-:d:277829

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().