High altitude might increase risk of incident frailty in older adults: a nationwide longitudinal survey.

IF 3.5 2区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

BMC Public Health Pub Date : 2025-07-19 DOI:10.1186/s12889-025-23713-0

Yongfei Dong, Qianqian Wang, Xichao Wang, Can Liu, Ibrar Hussain, Hongmei Ma, Ke Lu, Zaixiang Tang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The number of residents at high altitude is high globally, yet few studies have been conducted on the association between altitude and incident frailty. We evaluated the prospective association and dose-response relationship between altitude and frailty among Chinese older adults.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) from 2013 to 2018, enrolling 4065 participants aged ≥ 60 years at baseline. Frailty was assessed using a frailty index (FI) containing 29 health deficit indicators constructed. Cox proportional hazard regression and linear mixed model were used to analyze the association of altitude with frailty. Restricted Cubic Spline regression was used to assess the dose-response relationship between them.

Results: After a median follow-up of 61 months, 1076 (26.5%) frailty events were documented, including 137 (32.2%) in the middle and 939 (25.8%) in the low altitude group. The FI in the middle altitude group was higher than that in the low altitude group at three waves (baseline = 2013, wave 1 = 2015, and wave 2 = 2018 years). The risk of incident frailty was increased by 24% (HR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.03-1.48) in the middle altitude group compared to the low altitude group. The FI increased with increasing altitude. The RCS revealed an increased risk of developing frailty at altitudes above 2,000 m.

Conclusions: Exposure to high altitude is associated with an elevated risk of incident frailty. which suggested that early intervention with high-altitude residents can delay frailty.

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一项全国性的纵向调查显示，高海拔地区可能会增加老年人突发虚弱的风险。

背景：全球高海拔地区居民数量较多，但海拔与事件脆弱性之间的关系研究较少。我们评估了中国老年人海拔高度与虚弱之间的前瞻性关联和剂量-反应关系。方法：我们使用2013 - 2018年中国健康与退休纵向调查（CHARLS）的数据进行了一项前瞻性队列研究，纳入4065名基线年龄≥60岁的参与者。使用包含29个健康缺陷指标的虚弱指数（FI）评估虚弱程度。采用Cox比例风险回归和线性混合模型分析海拔与脆性的关系。采用限制三次样条回归评价两者之间的剂量-反应关系。结果：中位随访61个月后，记录了1076例（26.5%）虚弱事件，其中中部组137例（32.2%），低海拔组939例（25.8%）。在3个波（基线= 2013年，波1 = 2015年，波2 = 2018年）中海拔组FI高于低海拔组。与低海拔组相比，中等海拔组发生意外虚弱的风险增加24% （HR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.03-1.48）。FI随海拔升高而增大。RCS显示，在海拔2000米以上的地区，出现身体虚弱的风险增加。结论：暴露于高海拔地区与突发虚弱的风险增加有关。这表明，对高海拔地区的居民进行早期干预可以延缓他们的虚弱。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

BMC Public Health 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

4.40%

发文量

2108

审稿时长

1 months

期刊介绍： BMC Public Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health. The journal has a special focus on the social determinants of health, the environmental, behavioral, and occupational correlates of health and disease, and the impact of health policies, practices and interventions on the community.