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Inverse association between dietary habits with high total antioxidant capacity and prevalence of frailty among elderly Japanese women: A multicenter cross-sectional study

The journal of nutrition, health & aging volume 18, pages 827–836 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective

To examine the association of dietary habits with high total antioxidant capacity (TAC) with frailty among elderly Japanese women.

Design

Cross-sectional multicenter study.

Setting

Thirty-five of 47 prefectures in Japan.

Participants

2121 grandmothers or acquaintances of dietetic students aged 65 and older.

Measurements

Dietary TAC and food intakes were calculated using a validated brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire. The TAC value of each food was assigned using four different assays, ferric reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP). Frailty was defined as the presence three or more of the following four components: slowness and weakness (two points), exhaustion, low physical activity, and unintentional weight loss.

Results

The number of subjects with frailty was 486 (23%). Multivariate adjusted ORs (95% CI) for frailty in the highest compared to the lowest quintile were 0.35 (0.24, 0.53) for FRAP, 0.35 (0.23, 0.52) for ORAC, 0.40 (0.27, 0.60) for TEAC, and 0.41 (0.28, 0.62) for TRAP. The intakes of green tea, coffee, vegetables, and fruits which contribute to dietary TAC were also associated with lower odds of frailty (the range of multivariate adjusted OR: 0.47 for vegetables to 0.77 for green tea), although the odds ratios were less marked than those of dietary TAC.

Conclusions

Dietary habits with high TAC showed a stronger inverse association with frailty in elderly Japanese women than the individual foods examined.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Preventive Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    S. Kobayashi, H. Suga & S. Sasaki

  2. Department of Social and Preventive Epidemiology, School of Public Health, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    K. Asakura & S. Sasaki

  3. Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    K. Asakura

Authors
  1. S. Kobayashi
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  2. K. Asakura
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  3. H. Suga
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  4. S. Sasaki
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Consortia

The Three-Generation Study of Women on Diets and Health Study Groups

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Sasaki.

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Kobayashi, S., Asakura, K., Suga, H. et al. Inverse association between dietary habits with high total antioxidant capacity and prevalence of frailty among elderly Japanese women: A multicenter cross-sectional study. J Nutr Health Aging 18, 827–836 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-014-0556-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-014-0556-7

Key words

  • Frailty
  • dietary total antioxidant capacity
  • brief-type self-administered diet history questionnaire
  • elderly Japanese women