Association between frailty and main work during the LIFE: A cross-sectional analysis of the UK Biobank

Background

The role of main work during the life course in predicting frailty, a typical geriatric syndrome, is still largely unknown. Therefore, with this research, we aimed to investigate the potential association between the main work done during the life with frailty and pre-frailty among participants 60 years and older of the UK Biobank study.

Methods

Frailty and pre-frailty presence were ascertained using a model including 5 indicators (weakness, slowness, weight loss, low physical activity, and exhaustion); the main employment status was ascertained using self-reported information. The association between frailty and main work was explored using an ordinal logistic regression model and reported as odds ratios (ORs) with their 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

The final sample comprised a total of 50,447 individuals (mean age: 64.2 years, females: 50.2 %). Individuals with higher qualifications had a reduced risk of frailty (OR = 0.881, 95%CI = 0.83–0.95, p-value<0.001 for pre-frail and OR = 0.681, 95%CI = 0.63–0.73, p-value<0.001 for frail) compared to those with lower qualifications. Moreover, active participation in the workforce, compared to being inactive, emerged as a protective factor from frailty (OR = 0.753, 95%CI = 0.70–0.81, p-value<0.001). The categories of Associate Professional and Technical Occupations exhibited protective effects against both pre-frailty and frailty. Similarly, occupations categorized as Professional and Management demonstrated protective effects against pre-frailty and frailty when compared to Elementary Occupations. Additionally, engagement in Trades and Services occupations, as opposed to Elementary Occupations, appeared to be protective against frailty.

Conclusions

In this large cross-sectional investigation based on the data of the UK Biobank we found that work during lifetime could be an important factor in determining frailty later in life.