Zhongguo quanke yixue (Oct 2023)
Association between Self-rated Health and Frailty among Community-dwelling Older Adults: the Moderating Role of Apathy
Abstract
Background Previous studies have shown that self-rated health would be used as a simple assessment indicator for frailty, and individuals with poor self-rated health status are at higher risk of frailty. However, the association between self-rated health and frailty may be different and the effectiveness of self-rated health in frailty assessment may vary in apathetic older adults. Objective To explore the moderating role of apathy in the association between self-rated health and frailty among community-dwelling older adults, so as to provide theoretical guidance for the application of the self-rated health in the assessment of frailty in apathetic older adults. Methods From November 2021 to March 2022, a total of 384 community-dwelling older adults were selected as respondents by convenience sampling method, including 179 cases in Nanjing Dongshan Community and 205 cases in Lianyungang Qinghu Community. Questionnaire surveys were conducted using the General Information Questionnaire, Fried Frailty Phenotyp (FFP) , Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-3) , and the self-reported health (SRH) . Generalized linear model was used to analyze the association between self-rated health and frailty of community-dwelling older adults. The model 1 of the SPSS macro program process compiled by Hayes was used to analyze the moderating role of apathy on the association between the self-rated health and frailty, with simple slope analyze performed and simple slope graphs plotted. Results The median FFP and SRH item scores of 384 community-dwelling older adults were 1.00 (2.00) and 4.00 (1.00) , respectively, with the detection rate of apathy of 55.5% (213/384) . The results of the generalized linear model showed that the relationship between the self-rated health and frailty of community-dwelling older adults was significant (b=0.310, P<0.001) . The results of the moderating effect test showed that apathy played a moderating role in the relationship between self-rated health status and frailty in community-dwelling older adults (b=0.355, t=3.074, P=0.002) , and the results of simple slope analysis showed that the simple slope of the non-apathy group and apathy group was 0.100 (t=1.209, P=0.228) and 0.455 (t=5.206, P<0.001) respectively. Conclusion There is an association between self-rated health and frailty in community-dwelling older adults, and the application of the self-rated health can help community health workers assess frailty in older adults. Apathy plays a moderating role in the relationship between self-rated health and frailty. Compared with the non-apathetic older adults, the association between self-rated health and frailty is significant in apathetic older adults. Strengthening the self-rated health assessment of older adults is beneficial to the identification of their frailty.
Keywords
