Associations of frailty with partial and absolute sedentary behaviours among older adults: A STROBE-compliant analysis of modifiability by gender and age.

Abstract

BackgroundResearch shows that frailty is associated with higher sedentary behaviour, but the evidence to date regarding this association is inconclusive. This study assessed whether the above association is moderated or modified by gender and age, with sedentary behaviour measured with a more inclusive method.MethodsThis study adopted a STROBE-compliant cross-sectional design with sensitivity analyses and measures against common methods bias. The participants were community-dwelling older adults (mean age = 66 years) in two Ghanaian towns. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data from 1005 participants after the minimum sample size necessary was calculated. The hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to analyse the data.ResultsAfter adjusting for the ultimate confounders, frailty was associated with higher sedentary behaviour (β = 0.14; t = 2.93; p ConclusionSedentary behaviour could be higher at higher frailty among older adults. Frailty is more strongly associated with sedentary behaviour at a higher age and among women, compared with men.