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Psychological distress and frailty transitions over time in community-dwelling older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2016

J. E. McHugh Open the ORCID record for J. E. McHugh [Opens in a new window] ,
M. Dowling ,
A. Butler  and
B. A. Lawlor
J. E. McHugh*
Affiliation:
Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre, St James’s Hospital & Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
M. Dowling
Affiliation:
Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre, St James’s Hospital & Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
A. Butler
Affiliation:
Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre, St James’s Hospital & Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
B. A. Lawlor
Affiliation:
Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre, St James’s Hospital & Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
*
*Address for correspondence: J. E. McHugh, Room 3.10, Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre, Institute of Neuroscience, St James’s Hospital & Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. (Email: mchughje@tcd.ie)
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Abstract

Objectives

Physical health and, in particular, frailty may be associated with psychological factors among older adults. We aimed to investigate the relationships between aspects of psychological distress and progression of frailty over time among older adults.

Methods

We used a longitudinal observational study design with 624 participants aged over 60 years (mean age=72.75, s.d.=7.21, 68% female) completing a baseline comprehensive biopsychosocial geriatric assessment, and 447 returning for a follow-up assessment 2 years later. Aspects of psychological distress, physical health, and frailty were analysed for the purposes of this study. We employed a series of logistic regression analyses to determine psychological predictors of changing states of aspects of frailty over time.

Results

With individual components of frailty, neuroticism and age predicted negative transitions of exhaustion and grip strength, respectively, whereas age alone was a predictor of transitions in overall frailty scores based on four components.

Conclusion

We conclude that neuroticism and age may impact upon physical frailty and its progression over time in an ageing population. These findings may reflect the tendency for those with high levels of neuroticism to endorse negative symptoms, or alternatively, neuroticism may result in exhaustion via worry in an older population. Further research is required to further elucidate this relationship.

Keywords

Depressionfrailtyneuroticism
Type
Original Research
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 111 - 119
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2016 

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