Clinical Interventions in Aging (Jun 2020)
Associations Between Obesity and Multidimensional Frailty in Older Chinese People with Hypertension
Abstract
Xiaoyue Song,1,2 Weihong Zhang,2 Cynthia Hallensleben,1 Anke Versluis,1 Rianne van der Kleij,1 Zongliang Jiang,2 Niels H Chavannes,1 Robbert JJ Gobbens3– 5 1Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden 2333 ZD, The Netherlands; 2School of Nursing, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Faculty of Health, Sports and Social Work, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 4Zonnehuisgroep Amstelland, Amstelveen, The Netherlands; 5Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, BelgiumCorrespondence: Xiaoyue SongDepartment of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Center, Hippocratespad 21, Leiden 2333 ZD, The NetherlandsTel +31682817080Email [email protected]: To investigate the prevalence of multidimensional frailty in older people with hypertension and to examine a possible relationship of general obesity and abdominal obesity to frailty in older people with hypertension.Patients and Methods: A sample of 995 community-dwelling older people with hypertension, aged 65 years and older and living in Zhengzhou (China), completed the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), a validated self-report questionnaire for assessing multidimensional frailty. In addition, socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics were assessed by self-report, and obesity was determined by measuring waist circumference and calculating the body mass index.Results: The prevalence of multidimensional frailty in this older population with hypertension was 46.5%. Using multiple linear regression analysis, body mass index was significantly associated with physical frailty (p = 0.001), and waist circumference was significantly positively associated with multidimensional frailty and all three frailty domains. Older age was positively associated with multidimensional frailty, physical frailty, and psychological frailty, while gender (woman) was positively associated with multidimensional, psychological, and social frailty. Furthermore, comorbid diseases and being without a partner were positively associated with multidimensional, physical, psychological, and social frailty. Of the lifestyle characteristics, drinking alcohol was positively associated with frailty domains.Conclusion: Multidimensional frailty was highly prevalent among Chinese community-dwelling older people with hypertension. Abdominal obesity could be a concern in physical frailty, psychological frailty, and social frailty, while general obesity was concerning in relation to physical frailty.Keywords: older people, multidimensional frailty, obesity, hypertension
