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The Longitudinal Relationship between Frailty, Loneliness and Cardiovascular Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study

  • Original Research
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Objectives

Previous studies had reported that frailty and loneliness were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim of present study was to evaluate the combined effect of frailty and loneliness on the risk of CVD.

Methods

A total of 9,674 participants from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were included. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to explore the associations between frailty, loneliness and new-onset CVD, stroke and cardiac events.

Results

During the 7-year follow-up, a total of 1,758 respondents experienced CVD (including 584 stroke and 1,324 cardiac events). Compared to those without loneliness or frailty, individuals with loneliness alone, or with frailty alone, or with both loneliness and frailty were significantly associated with increased risk of CVD, with corresponding HRs (95%CIs) were 1.21(1.07–1.37), 1.57(1.32–1.86) and 1.78(1.52–2.10), respectively. Similarly, participants with loneliness alone, or with frailty alone, or with both loneliness and frailty were associated with higher risk of cardiac events. The significant associations were consistent in age subgroups (participants aged less or more than 60 years).

Conclusion

Our study indicated that there was a combined effect of effect of frailty and loneliness on the risk of CVD, stroke and cardiac events. These findings highlighted the importance of identifying loneliness and frailty, and intervening much earlier both in older and younger population.

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Availability of data and materials: This analysis uses data or information from the Harmonized CHARLS dataset and Codebook, Version C as of April 2018 developed by the Gateway to Global Aging Data.

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Acknowledgements

This analysis uses data or information from the Harmonized CHARLS dataset and Codebook, Version C as of April 2018 developed by the Gateway to Global Aging Data. The development of the Harmonized CHARLS was funded by the National Institute on Ageing (R01 AG030153, RC2 AG036619, R03 AG043052). For more information, please refer to www.g2aging.org.

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by ‘Scientific Research Project of Wuxi Municipal Health Commission(Q202221)’.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Public Health Research Center and Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Wuxi School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China

    X. Zheng

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Jiangnan University Medical Center, Wuxi, China

    K. Zhang

  3. Department of Critical Care Medicine, Jiangnan University Medical Center, Wuxi, Jiangsu, 214122, China

    Jiawei Ma

Authors
  1. X. Zheng
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  2. K. Zhang
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Contributions

Authors’ contributions: Xiaowei Zheng and Jiawei Ma conceived and designed the research; Kaixin Zhang and Xiaowei Zheng wrote the manuscript; and Kaixin Zhang and Xiaowei Zheng performed the data analysis. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jiawei Ma.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable.

Consent for publication: Not applicable.

Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Sponsor’s Role: The sponsors had no role in the design, methods, data collection, analysis, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Zheng, X., Zhang, K. & Ma, J. The Longitudinal Relationship between Frailty, Loneliness and Cardiovascular Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study. J Nutr Health Aging 27, 1212–1218 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-2037-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-2037-3

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