Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the influences of living arrangements on the association between dietary variety and frailty by gender in community-dwelling older people.
Design: A cross-sectional study.
Setting: Nishinomiya city, Hyogo prefecture, Japan.
Participants: A total of 4,996 randomly selected community-dwelling older people aged 65 years and older and living in Nishinomiya City.
Measurements: Survey questionnaires were distributed via mail. The frailty score was evaluated by the 5-item frailty screening index. Dietary variety was assessed using the dietary variety score developed for the general older Japanese population.
Results: A total of 2,764 community-dwelling participants aged ≥ 65 years responded to the questionnaires. After excluding missing data, 1,780 participants were included in the study analysis. The frailty scores in older men living alone were significantly higher than those in older men living with someone (P < 0.001). The dietary variety scores in older men living alone were significantly lower than those in older men living with someone (P < 0.001). However, differences in the frailty and dietary variety scores between living alone and living with someone were not were observed in older women (P = 0.360 and P = 0.265, respectively). In the multivariable regression analysis, the associations between dietary variety score and frailty score in living alone (β= -0. 271, P = 0.011) were stronger than those in living with someone in the case of older men (β= -0.131, P = 0.045). Similar associations between dietary variety and frailty were presented in older women living alone than in those living with someone (β -0.114, P = 0.002; β -0.088, P = 0.012, respectively).
Conclusions: Older men who live alone had higher frailty score and lower dietary variety. The associations between dietary variety and frailty were different according to living arrangements in both older men and older women.
Keywords: Frailty; dietary variety; gender difference; living alone.