Time Spent in Sedentary Behaviour as Discriminant Criterion for Frailty in Older Adults

V.D. da Silva, S. Tribess, J. Meneguci, J.E. Sasaki, D.A.T. Santos, J.A.O. Carneiro, J.S. Virtuoso Júnior

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(7). pii: E1336

This paper aims to analyse whether time spent in sedentary behaviour was a discriminant criterion for frailty in older adults.

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a sample of 457 elderly individuals aged ≥60 years. Frailty was defined as the presence of three or more of the following criteria: Unintentional weight loss, low walking speed at a 4.57 m course, reduced manual grip strength, exhaustion and insufficient physical activity level. Participants were classified into two groups: Non-frail or frail. Exposure to sedentary behaviour was assessed by the time spent sitting during a typical week, according to the adapted version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Descriptive (mean, frequency) and inferential statistics (Poisson regression, Pearson’s Chi-square, Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve) were used to analyse the data, comparing them to the time-related areas exposed to sedentary behaviour by gender and the presence of frailty.

 The prevalence of frailty was 22.1% (n = 101). The most accurate cut-off points of sitting time for predicting frailty were >495 min/day (men) or >536 min/day (women).

Comment: Time spent in sedentary behaviour can be used to indicate frailty in the elderly of both sexes.