Background The decline in everyday life physical activity reflects and contributes to the frailty syndrome. While especially self-reported frailty assessments have the advantage of reaching large groups at low costs, little is known about the relationship between the self-report and objective measured daily physical activity behavior. The main objective was to evaluate whether and to what extent a self-reported assessment of frailty is associated with daily physical activity patterns. Methods Daily activity data were obtained from 88 elderly participants (mean 80.6 ± 9.1 years) over up to 21 days. Acceleration data were collected via smartwatch. According to the results of a self-report frailty questionnaire, participants were retrospectively split up into three groups, F (frail, n = 43), P (pre-frail, n = 33), and R (robust, n = 12). Gait- and activity-related measures were derived from the built-in step detector and acceleration sensor and comprised, i.a., standard deviation of 5-s-mean amplitude deviation (MADstd), median MAD (MADmedian), and the 95th percentile of cadence (STEP95). Parameters were fed into a PCA and component scores were used to derive behavioral clusters. Results The PCA suggested two components, one describing gait and one upper limb activity. Mainly gait related parameters showed meaningful associations with the self-reported frailty score (STEP95: R2 = 0.25), while measures of upper limb activity had lower coefficients (MADmedian: R2 = 0.07). Cluster analysis revealed two clusters with low and relatively high activity in both dimensions (cluster 2 and 3). Interestingly, a third cluster (cluster 1) was characterized by high activity and low extent of ambulation. Comparisons between the clusters showed significant differences between activity, gait, age, sex, number of chronic diseases, health status, and walking aid. Particularly, cluster 1 contained a higher number of female participants, whose self-reports tended towards a low health status, the frequent use of a walking aid, and a higher score related to frailty questions. Conclusions The results demonstrate that subjective frailty assessments may be a simple first screening approach. However, especially older women using walking aids may classify themselves as frail despite still being active. Therefore, the results of self-reports may be particularly biased in older women.
À partir d’observations socio-ethnographiques à domicile, cet article explore les conditions d’application des notions de fragilité, vulnérabilité et atouts / ressorts de santé au repérage, au suivi et à la prévention de la perte d’autonomie des personnes âgées. Relevant d’univers différents, ces trois notions offrent des cadres d’analyse et d’intervention complémentaires.La notion de fragilité, dans son acception gériatrique, appartient à l’univers de la maladie ; elle se présente comme une diminution plus ou moins étendue des réserves physiologiques qu’un individu mobilise face à un stress. Les atouts / ressorts de santé se situent d’emblée dans le domaine de la santé, conçue non pas comme un problème à résoudre mais comme une ressource à promouvoir. Les atouts / ressorts de santé reposent sur les activités et relations qui forment le fil directeur de la vie des personnes âgées, les modes d’accompagnement de leur entourage et la qualité des environnements. La vulnérabilité, concept probabiliste qui saisit la relation ou la proximité par rapport à un danger, se rapproche de la fragilité par la notion de risque et des atouts / ressorts de santé par la notion de coping (capacité à faire face, à s’adapter). La vulnérabilité a l’avantage d’offrir une perspective plus large sur les risques associés au vieillissement, et d’entrouvrir la porte à la notion d’atouts / ressorts de santé pour commencer à caractériser les dimensions positives de la santé et de l’autonomie à domicile : en particulier les ressources mobilisées pour faire face aux risques et les motivations qui portent au quotidien les personnes âgées.
Introduction Over the last fifteen years, Living Labs have been on the rise in Europe to bridge the gap between service providers, and the needs of end-users, and to speed up innovation, particularly in the field of healthcare and ageing. Ageing tends to be considered by institutions as a set of risks to be managed for older persons, illustrated in particular via the concepts of “ageing well” or “successful ageing”. In this context, this project aims to define the meaning and the conditions for a good life from the point of view of older persons themselves, thereby improving institutions’ recognition and support of older persons’ ways of living well, rather than imposing a general definition of “successful ageing” based on functional capacity. Methods and analysis This qualitative study is designed as an action research underpinned by a Living-Lab approach to co-creation. The aims are to: define the conditions for a good life as accurately as possible with older persons (Step 1); share these findings with different healthcare and service providers to adjust existing services or create new ones (Step 2); and disseminate them more broadly within the regions under study and across the scientific community (Step 3). During Step 1, the features of a “good life” will be analysed in a socio-anthropological study based on semi-directed interviews and observations made in the homes of 70 elderly people living in a wide range of accommodation types and regions. In accordance with French legislation, and as confirmed by our formal Ethics Committee, this study does not require approval. The dissemination stage is integrated into the design of this action research, and notably will provide for the appropriation of research findings by the partners of this study, by setting up creativity sessions (Step 2) and by sharing the general findings through panel discussions bringing together regional and national stakeholders (Step 3).
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