Frailty predicts new and persistent depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults: Findings from singapore longitudinal aging study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between physical frailty at baseline and depressive symptoms at baseline and at follow-up. Design: Four-year prospective study. Setting: Communities in the South East Region of Singapore. Participants: We analyzed data of 1827 older Chinese adults aged 55 and above in the Singapore Longitudinal Aging Study-I. Measurements: The frailty phenotype (based on Fried criteria) was determined at baseline, depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale ≥5) at baseline and follow-ups at 2 and 4years. Results: The mean age of the population was 65.9 (standard deviation 7.26). At baseline, 11.4% (n=209) had depressive symptoms, 32.4% (n=591) were prefrail and 2.5% (n=46) were frail. In cross-sectional analysis of baseline data, the adjusted odds ratios (OR)s and 95% confidence intervals controlling for demographic, comorbidities, and other confounders were 1.69 (1.23-2.33) for prefrailty and 2.36 (1.08-5.15) for frailty, (P for linear trend