The interrelationship between grip work, self-perceived fatigue and pre-frailty in community-dwelling octogenarians

Veerle Knoop; Axelle Costenoble; Aziz Debain; Roberta Vella Azzopardi; Sofie Vermeiren; Sven van Laere; Bart Jansen; Aldo Scafoglieri; Ivan Bautmans; Gerontopole Brussels Study group

doi:10.1016/j.exger.2021.111440

The interrelationship between grip work, self-perceived fatigue and pre-frailty in community-dwelling octogenarians

Exp Gerontol. 2021 Sep:152:111440. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2021.111440. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Authors

Veerle Knoop¹, Axelle Costenoble¹, Aziz Debain², Roberta Vella Azzopardi³, Sofie Vermeiren¹, Sven van Laere⁴, Bart Jansen⁵, Aldo Scafoglieri⁶, Ivan Bautmans⁷; Gerontopole Brussels Study group

Collaborators

Gerontopole Brussels Study group:
Dominque Verté⁸, Ingo Beyer⁹, Mirko Petrovic¹⁰, Liesbeth De Donder⁸, Tinie Kardol¹¹, Gina Rossi¹², Peter Clarys¹³, Aldo Scafoglieri¹⁴, Erik Cattrysse¹⁴, Paul de Hert¹⁵, Bart Jansen¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Gerontology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) Research Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium.
² Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) Research Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Department of Geriatrics, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel), Laarbeeklaan 101, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium.
³ Gerontology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) Research Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Department of Geriatrics, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel), Laarbeeklaan 101, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium.
⁴ Research Group of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Department of Public Health (GEWE), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090 Brussel, Belgium.
⁵ Department of Electronics and Informatics ETRO, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Elsene, Belgium; imec, Leuven, Belgium.
⁶ Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) Research Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Supporting Clinical Science Department and Research Department of Experimental Anatomy (EXAN), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
⁷ Gerontology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Frailty in Ageing (FRIA) Research Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium; Department of Geriatrics, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel (UZ Brussel), Laarbeeklaan 101, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: ivan.bautmans@vub.be.
⁸ Belgian Ageing Studies BAST, VUB, Belgium.
⁹ Geriatric Medicine Department, UZ Brussel, Belgium.
¹⁰ ReFrail, UGent, Belgium.
¹¹ Leerstoel Bevordering Active Ageing, VUB, Belgium.
¹² Clinical and Lifespan Psychology KLEP, VUB, Belgium.
¹³ Physical Activity and Nutrition PANU, VUB, Belgium.
¹⁴ Experimental Anatomy EXAN, VUB, Belgium.
¹⁵ Fundamental Rights and Constitutionalism Research group FRC, VUB, Belgium.
¹⁶ Department of Electronics and Informatics ETRO, VUB, Belgium.

PMID: 34116174
DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2021.111440

Abstract

Introduction: Low grip work and high feelings of self-perceived fatigue could be an early characteristic of decline in reserve capacity, which comes to full expression as physical frailty in a later stage. When grip work and self-perceived fatigue can be identified as characteristics differentiating between robustness and pre-frailty it might allow to identify pre-frailty earlier. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether the combination of grip work and self-perceived fatigue is related to pre-frailty in well-functioning older adults aged 80 and over.

Methods: Four-hundred and five community-dwelling older adults aged 80 and over (214 robust and 191 pre-frail) were assessed for muscle endurance (grip Work corrected for body weight (GW_bw)), self-perceived fatigue (MFI-20) and frailty state (Fried Frailty Index, FFI). A Capacity to Perceived Vitality ratio (CPV) was calculated by dividing GW_bw by the MFI-20 scores. ANCOVA analysis (corrected for age and gender) was used to compare robust and pre-frail older adults, and binary logistic regressions were applied to analyze the relationship between CPV and pre-frailty status.

Results: Pre-frail older adults who scored negative on the exhaustion item of the FFI still showed significantly lower GW (p < 0.001), CPV ratios (p < 0.001) and higher self-perceived fatigue (p < 0.05) compared to the robust ones. The likelihood for pre-frailty related significantly to higher age, being men and lower CPV ratios. In women, every unit increase in CPV ratio decreased the likelihood for pre-frailty by 78% (OR 0.22; 95% CI: 0.11-0.44), for men this effect was less strong (34%, OR 0.66; 95% CI: 0.47-0.93).

Conclusions: Pre-frail community-dwelling persons aged 80 years and over without clinical signs of exhaustion on the FFI still experience significantly higher fatigue levels (lower Grip Work, higher self-perceived fatigue and lower CPV levels) compared to robust ones. CPV ratio could therefore be a good tool to identify subclinical fatigue in the context of physical (pre-)frailty.

Keywords: Aged; Community-dwelling; Fatigue; Handgrip; Muscle endurance; Pre-frailty; Vitality.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cross-Sectional Studies
Fatigue
Female
Frail Elderly
Frailty* / diagnosis
Geriatric Assessment
Hand Strength
Humans
Independent Living
Male