Effects of activities participation on frailty of older adults in China.

Objective: Frailty represents a significant health challenge among older adults, necessitating effective interventions to enhance their overall wellbeing. This study aims to investigate the impact of various types of activity participation on frailty in older adults and to elucidate their intrinsic associations, thereby providing a basis for targeted interventions.

Methods: This study constructed a classification of activities based on the framework proposed by the WHO regarding functional ability in healthy aging, innovatively dividing activities into five categories: physical activity, social activity, economic activity, information activity and sleep activity. Utilizing data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS 2020), the research employed multiple linear regression and mediation analysis to explore the effects of these activities on the frailty status of older adults and their underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, propensity score matching was conducted to robustly test the regression results.

Results: The study found that physical activity (β = -0.006, < 0.01), social activity (β = -0.007, < 0.01), economic activity (β = -0.017, < 0.01), information activity (β = -0.040, < 0.01) and sleep activity (β = -0.044, < 0.01) all had significant positive effects on the frailty status of older adults. Additionally, sleep activity mediated the relationship between physical activity and frailty status, accounting for 4.819%. Social activity mediated the relationship between information activity and frailty status, accounting for 7.692%.

Conclusion: Older adults should enhance their participation in various activities to alleviate frailty. This can be further improved through the following three aspects: engaging in moderate physical exercise, fostering and promoting awareness of volunteer services, and popularizing the use of information technology.