Polypharmacy and lack of joy predict physical frailty among northern Japanese community-dwellers from the ORANGE cohort study

Background: A gradually increasing prevalence of frailty is recognized in the super-aging society that Japan faces, and early detection and intervention of frailty in community-dwellers are critical issues to prevent frailty. Although previous studies have well documented the characteristics of physical disability, there is limited information on frail state differences among older adults in Japanese rural areas. The aim of this study was to clarify the association and predictors of frail status in northen Japan community-dwellers aged 65 or more.Methods: The investigation was conducted from 2018 to 2020. After obtaining informed consent from each participant, assessments and outcomes were evaluated according to the ORANGE protocol. Participants were recruited from Akita community-dwellers in northern Japan. We applied the frailty index of Gerontology - the Study of Geriatric Syndromes (NCGG-SGS) to classify frailty status, collecting data of demographics and psycho-social status using the Kihon checklist and cognitive domains including the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology Functional Assessment Tool (NCGG-FAT).Results: Our subjects included 313 older adults divided into 138 robust, 163 prefrail and 12 frail. For statistical analysis, physical frailty and cognitive decline were related, and polypharmacy and a lack of joy in daily life were the main predictors of frail status.Conclusions: Reducing medications and finding fun in your life are important to prevent frailty.