ABSTRACT
This article reports the study protocol of a nationwide multicentric study in seven Italian regions aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a digitally supported approach for the early screening of frailty risk factors in community-dwelling older adults. SUNFRAIL+ is a prospective observational cohort study aimed at carrying out a multidimensional assessment of community-dwelling older adults through an IT platform, which allows to connect the items of the SUNFRAIL frailty assessment tool with a cascading multidimensional in-depth assessment of the bio-psycho-social domains of frailty. Seven centers in seven Italian regions will administer the SUNFRAIL questionnaire to 100 older adults. According to the answers provided by older adults, they will be subjected to one or more validated in-depth scale tests in order to perform further diagnostic or dimensional evaluations. The study aims to contribute to the implementation and validation of a multiprofessional and multistakeholder service model for the screening of frailty in community-dwelling older adult population.
Subject(s)
Frailty , Humans , Aged , Frailty/epidemiology , Frail Elderly , Independent Living , Prospective Studies , Geriatric Assessment/methods , Health Services , Observational Studies as TopicABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused changes in lifestyle for older adults such as reduced physical activity and community participation. Community activity centers were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 82) or control arm (n = 85). The intervention comprised one 60 min group exercise session per week in weeks 1-8 and an online home exercise program in weeks 9-16. Physical activity, physical performance, and prefrailty rates were assessed at baseline and 16 weeks. At 16 weeks, compared to the control arm, the intervention arm exhibited improved (p < 0.05) leisure-time physical activity (phi = 0.571), vigorous physical activity (phi = 0.534), and moderate-vigorous physical activity (phi = 0.344); prefrailty rates (phi = 0.179); and short physical performance battery results (η2p = 0.113). The intervention thus effectively improved physical activity levels, physical performance, and prefrailty rates in community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Pandemics , Humans , Aged , Independent Living , COVID-19/prevention & control , Exercise , Exercise Therapy/methodsABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Screening and intervention in pre-frailty can help prevent or delay frailty among older adults. Being overweight has shown associated with pre-frailty, and overweight is highly prevalent among community-dwelling older adults during COVID-19. However, the impact of visceral fat accumulation remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the association between visceral fat area and pre-frailty in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: The participants of this study included community-dwelling older adults from three elderly welfare centers. The frailty phenotype was assessed using the frailty screening index. The body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. RESULTS: A total of 214 community-dwelling older adults completed the questionnaire and measurements. After excluding 16 frail participants, 149 (75.3%) were pre-frailty. The mean age of participants was 75.4 ± 5.4 years, and 69.7% (138) of participants were women. There were 54 (27.3%) participants with high visceral fat area. The multivariable model showed that participants with high visceral fat area were at increased risk for pre-frailty (adjusted OR, 3.15; 95% CI, 1.26 - 7.87; P = 0.014), even after adjusted for age, sex, health status, and impact of COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the association between visceral fat accumulation and pre-frailty may help to identify a new target for prevention. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine their mechanisms in older adults.