Recently, a research group led by Prof. Wang Kefang has made important progress in the frail field of the mechanism and intervention among older adults. The research result "Relationship between loneliness and frailty among older adults in nursing homes: the mediating role of activity engagement " has been published in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association(Five-year impact factor = 5.751).This result has key implications for the prevention of frailty in nursing homes and can be used to promote interventions that improve older adults' quality of life. Doctoral candidate Zhao Meng from School of Nursing is the first author. Prof. Wang Kefang and Associate Prof. Li Ming are co-corresponding authors. Shandong University is the first author unit.

Frailty, the most prominent expression of population ageing, has become a hot topic in human health research. Frailty—defined as decreased reserve and vulnerability to even minor stressors, resulting from cumulative declines across multiple physiologic systems—is associated with an increased risk of adverse outcomes. Preventing and delaying frailty is an important way to improve older adult' quality of life. Previous literature has suggested that loneliness is the strongest predictor of frailty. However, the mechanism underlying this relationship remains unclear. In addition, plenty of the previous studies were carried out among community-dwelling older adults; however, frailty in nursing homes was markedly prevalent, facing key challenges. From May 2016 to September 2017, Professor Wang Kefang's team established a longitudinal study cohort of older adults in 33 nursing homes in Jinan. This study used baseline data to analyse the mechanism of loneliness and frailty, and results suggest that it is not loneliness in general that affects frailty, but actively engaging in activities. The results of this study provide an evidence-based basis for the design of precise frailty intervention for older adults in nursing homes.

This research was supported by the Social Science Research Project of the Ministry of Education, China (grant no. 14YJAZH076) and Shandong University Humanities and Social Science Youth Team Project, China (grant no. IFYT18035). For many years, Professor Wang Kefang's team has been devoted to the research of geriatric health and nursing studies. Many related research has been published in the International Journal of Nursing studies, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Journal of Diabetes and Its Complications.

Link of this paper:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2018.11.007

Source: School of Nursing

Written by: Zhao Meng

Edited by: Che Huiqing