Associations of frailty, loneliness and the quality of life of empty nesters: A cross-sectional study in rural areas

Abstract

Aims: To explore loneliness, in association with frailty, in explaining the quality of life (QOL) of empty-nest older adults in rural China.

Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted.

Methods: Data collection was performed from June to August 2017 in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin province, which consists of seven districts and three counties. In total, 304 older adults aged 60 years and above participated. The characteristics of older adults were evaluated in terms of frailty status, loneliness and the QOL. One-way and two-way analyses of covariance and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves were used to explore the relationships of frailty, loneliness and the QOL.

Results: The one-way ANCOVA showed a significant difference among robust, prefrail and frail participants for loneliness. Moreover, an interaction effect of frailty with loneliness in determining the QOL was found. The receiver operating characteristic curves showed that loneliness and QOL could distinguish frail older adults, and the best cutoffs were 34.5 and 67.4, respectively.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates a close relationship between frailty and loneliness, suggesting the need to simultaneously consider the two with regard to the QOL of empty-nest older adults in rural China.

Keywords: frailty; loneliness; older adults; quality of life.