Effect of temporal variation in social activity participation on physical frailty among community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults: A longitudinal study with a three-wave survey.

Abstract

An aging population necessitates strategies for extending healthy lifespan, with physical frailty as a key obstacle. Social activity participation is a potential intervention. However, previous studies examining the association between social activity participation and physical frailty have predominantly employed cross-sectional designs with single-wave surveys or longitudinal designs with two-wave surveys, and studies using multi-wave longitudinal designs are limited. Few studies have systematically evaluated the classification of physical frailty in subsequent follow-up assessments while considering temporal variations in social activity participation. Therefore, we studied the effect of temporal variations in social activity on subsequent physical frailty classifications using a three-wave survey. We found that sustained non-participation in sports-based activities significantly increased the risk of Pre-Frailty or Frailty at follow-up compared to sustained participation. Similarly, transitioning from participation to non-participation in culture-based activities increased this risk. These results suggest that maintaining participation in sports activities and avoiding cessation of cultural activities are crucial for preventing frailty. Individuals who consistently avoided sports or stopped cultural activities were more likely to be classified as pre-frail or frail in subsequent assessments.