| Abstract: | Previous studies have found heterogeneous health tran¬sition trajectories indicating that older adults could have opportunities to prevent or postpone the onset of disability, even for those with morbidity. This study aims to examine the effects of health promotion activities on subsequent onset of physical disability for older adults with frailty. This study analyzed two waves of data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA) collected in 2007 and 2011, with a sample of 1671 respondents who were aged 55 or older, defined as pre-frail or frail according to the Fried frailty cri¬teria, and had no disability in activities of daily living (ADL) in 2007. Health promotion activities investigated included non-smoking, regular physical activity, receiving health examination, chronic disease self-management, working, and volunteering/ group activities. The outcome variable was whether one or more ADL disability presented in 2011. Respondents who had any difficulty with bathing, dress¬ing, eating, getting in or out of bed, walking across a room, and using toilet, were defined as with ADL disability. In the multiple logistic regression model, we adjusted for sex, age, educational level, and marital status. Participating in paid work (odds ratio (OR): 0.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.14–0.46), volunteering/group activities (OR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.53–0.99), and health examination (OR: 0.48, 95% CI: 0.36–0.65) were associated with lower risk of ADL disabil¬ity. The findings demonstrate that the same as their healthy counterparts, older adults with prefrailty or frailty could benefit from health promotion activities and prevent health deterioration. |
