Purpose Depression and frailty are common health problems that occur separately or simultaneously in later life. The two syndromes are correlated, but they need to be distinguished to promote successful aging. Previous studies have examined the reciprocal relationship between depression and frailty, but there are limitations in the methods or statistical analysis. This study aims to confirm the potential prospective bidirectional and causal relationship between depression and frailty.
Methods We used data from 887 older adults aged 70 to 84 from the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS) in 2016, 2018, and 2020 (3 waves). We separated the within-individual process from the stable between-individual differences using the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model.
Results Significant bidirectional causal effects were observed in 2 paths. Older adults with higher depression than their within-person average at T1 had a higher risk of frailty at T2 (β=.22, p=.008). Subsequently, older adults with higher-than-average frailty scores at T2 showed higher depression at T3 (β=.14, p=.010). Autoregressive effects were only significant from T2 to T3 for both constructs (Depression: β=.16, p=.044; Frailty: β=.13, p=.028). At the between-person level, the correlation was significant between the random intercepts between depression and frailty (β=.47, p<.001).
Conclusions We find that depressed older adults have an increased risk of frailty, which contributes to the onset of depression and the maintenance of frailty. Therefore, interventions for each condition may prevent the entry and worsening of the other condition, as well as prevent comorbidity.
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Purpose Preventing the effects of physical vulnerability is a practical approach to improving older adults’ depressive symptoms. This study aims to examine the relationship between gender differences related to muscle strength and depressive symptoms mediated by perceived stress.
Methods In this cross-sectional study, data from 2,705 older adults (65 years old or older) from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey VII 2016 and 2018 were analyzed. The moderated mediation model was developed; the outcome, independent, mediation, and moderated mediation variables in the literature-based research model were depressive symptoms, muscle strength, perceived stress, and gender, respectively.
Results Perceived stress had a mediating effect on the relationship between muscle strength and depressive symptoms. The indirect effect of muscle strength on depressive symptoms mediated by perceived stress was β = -.02 (95% CI:-0.03~-0.01). The moderated mediation model demonstrated that the interaction term of handgrip strength and gender negatively affected perceived stress, which indicated that gender moderated the mediating model of perceived stress on the association of muscle strength and depressive symptoms (β = -.01, p <.05). The conditional indirect effect model was insignificant in the male group (β = -.00, 95% CI:-0.01~0.01) but significant in the female group (β = -.01, 95% CI: -0.02~0.00). Conclusions: Perceived stress mediated the relationship between muscle strength and depressive symptoms. However, the effect differed by gender. A stress-mediated depressive symptoms intervention program for older adults should be developed to consider women’s needs.
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