Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Dec;26(12):3323-3330.
doi: 10.1007/s11136-017-1672-8. Epub 2017 Aug 3.

The significance of frailty in the relationship between socioeconomic status and health-related quality of life in the Korean community-dwelling elderly population: mediation analysis with bootstrapping

Ho-Joong Kim  1 , Saejong Park  2 , Soo-Hyun Park  2 , Young Woo Heo  1 , Bong-Soon Chang  3 , Choon-Ki Lee  3 , Jin S Yeom  4   5
Affiliations

The significance of frailty in the relationship between socioeconomic status and health-related quality of life in the Korean community-dwelling elderly population: mediation analysis with bootstrapping

Ho-Joong Kim et al. Qual Life Res. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: Firstly, to investigate the prevalence of frailty and impact on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a Korean community-dwelling elderly population using the Fried frailty criteria; secondly, to investigate the associations among frailty, socioeconomic status (SES), and HRQOL of the Korean community-based population; and thirdly, to analyze the relationship between education, income, and frailty.

Methods: Nine hundred and sixty-four apparently heathy subjects from the Korean community-based population were enrolled in this prospective cross-sectional study. Using self-reported questionnaires, demographic data, SES, and HRQOL were evaluated. Frailty status was determined according to the Fried frailty criteria. After adjustment of covariates including age, sex, and BMI, multivariate linear regression analyses were conducted to assess each component of the proposed mediation models, and mediation was also verified by the bootstrapping technique.

Results: Among the 964 participants, 530 (55.0%), 399 (41.4%), and 35 (3.6%) participants were classified into the robust, pre-frailty, and frailty group, respectively. The frail group demonstrated significantly lower HRQOL. Participants with lower income or education level had significantly higher chances of being frail. Frailty acted as a mediator in this association between low SES (education and income) and low HRQOL. Furthermore, income contributed most to the explanation of educational differences in frailty, suggesting full mediation.

Conclusion: Frailty has a significant negative influence on HRQOL in the community-based elderly population, and acts as a mediator between SES and HRQOL. As a mediator, income can explain educational difference related with the frailty.

Keywords: Educational attainment; Frail; Fried frailty criteria; Health-related quality of life; Income.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ann Med. 2001 Jul;33(5):337-43 - PubMed
    1. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Dec;954:88-117 - PubMed
    1. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001 Mar;56(3):M146-56 - PubMed
    1. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2014 Nov-Dec;59(3):542-8 - PubMed
    1. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2009 Jun;64(6):675-81 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources