Life satisfaction and frailty in community-based older adults: cross-sectional and prospective analyses.

Background: Frailty may be associated with reduced life satisfaction (LS). The objectives of this paper are to determine if (1) frailty is associated with LS in community-dwelling older adults in cross-sectional analyses; (2) frailty predicts LS five years later; and (3) specific domains of LS are preferentially associated with frailty.

Methods: This paper presents analysis of an existing population-based cohort study of 1,751 persons aged 65+ who were assessed in 1991, with follow-up five years later. LS was measured using the terrible-delightful scale, which measures overall LS and LS in specific domains. Frailty was measured using the Brief Frailty Instrument. Analyses were adjusted for age, gender, education, and marital status.

Results: Frailty was associated with overall LS at time 1 and predicted overall LS at time 2. This was seen in unadjusted analyses and after adjusting for confounding factors. Frailty was associated with all domains of LS at time 1, and predicted LS at time 2 in all domains except housing and self-esteem. However, the effect was stronger for LS with health than with other domains for both times 1 and 2.

Conclusions: Frailty is associated with LS, and the effect is strongest for LS with health.