Associations of frailty with partial and absolute sedentary behaviours among older adults: A STROBE-compliant analysis of modifiability by gender and age

Background – Research shows that frailty is associated with higher sedentary behaviour, but the evidence to date regarding this association is inconclusive. This study assessed whether the above association is moderated or modified by gender and age, with sedentary behaviour measured with a more inclusive method. Methods – This study adopted a STROBE-compliant cross-sectional design with sensitivity analyses and measures against common methods bias. The participants were community-dwelling older adults (mean age = 66 years) in two Ghanaian towns. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data from 1005 participants after the minimum sample size necessary was calculated. The hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to analyse the data. Results – After adjusting for the ultimate confounders, frailty was associated with higher sedentary behaviour (β = 0.14; t = 2.93; p <0.05) as well as partial and absolute sedentary behaviour. Gender modified the above associations in the sense that frailty was more strongly associated with sedentary behaviour among women, compared with men. Age also modified the association between frailty and sedentary behaviour, which suggests that frailty was more strongly associated with higher sedentary behaviour at a higher age. Conclusion – Sedentary behaviour could be higher at higher frailty among older adults. Frailty is more strongly associated with sedentary behaviour at a higher age and among women, compared with men.