Age differences in the relationship between frailty and depression among community-dwelling older adults

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to examine age differences in the relationship between frailty and depression among older adults METHODS: A total of 1789 community-dwelling older adults were recruited from eastern China. Physical frailty and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Frailty Phenotype and the 5-item Geriatric Depression Scale, respectively.

Results: The hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis revealed that frailty was significantly related to depressive symptoms (β = 0.272, P < 0.001) and there was a significant interaction between age and frailty (β = -0.703, P < 0.001). The Johnson-Neyman plot revealed that the relationship between frailty and depressive symptoms became weaker as people aged.

Conclusions: Frailty is more likely to cause depressive symptoms among the young-old than among the old-old, reflecting the age-related positivity effect. This highlights that interventions on emotional regulation should particularly target the young-old to reduce the effect of frailty on depression.

Keywords: Age; Depression; Frailty; Older adults.