Abstract
BACKGROUND: Studies revealed unidirectional associations between frailty and medication-related problems (MRPs) among older adults. Less is known about the association between frailty and the risk of MRPs. We aimed to assess the bi-directional association between frailty and the risk of MRPs in community-dwelling older adults in five European countries.
METHODS: Participants were 1785 older adults in the population-based Urban Health Centres Europe project. Repeated assessments were collected at baseline and one-year follow-up, including frailty, the risk of MRPs, and covariates. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the unidirectional associations. A cross-lagged panel modeling was used to assess bi-directional associations.
RESULTS: The unidirectional association between frailty at baseline and the risk of MRPs at follow-up remained statistically significant after adjusting for covariates (β = 0.10, 95%CI:0.08, 0.13). The association between the risk of MRPs at baseline and frailty at follow-up shows similar trends. The bi-directional association was comparable with reported unidirectional associations, with a stronger effect from frailty at baseline to the risk of MRPs at follow-up than reversed path (Wald test for comparing lagged effects: p < 0.05).
CONCLUSION: This longitudinal study suggests that a cycle may exist where older adults with higher frailty levels are more likely to have a higher risk of MRPs, which in turn contributes to developing a higher level of frailty. Further research is needed to validate our findings and explore underlying pathways.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society |
Early online date | 25 Mar 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 25 Mar 2023 |
Keywords
- bi-directional association
- frailty
- geriatric assessment
- medication-related problems
- older adults