Longitudinal Analysis on Inflammatory Markers and Frailty Progression: Based on the English Longitudinal Study of Aging

Overview

Journal Eur Geriatr Med

Specialty Geriatrics

Date 2024 Jul 10

PMID 38987423

Authors

Lingxiao He

Jinzhu Yang

Ya Fang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Frailty is a common health state that is closely linked to adverse health outcomes in aging society. Although many inflammatory biomarkers have been cross-sectionally associated with frailty, knowledge on the longitudinal association is still limited. This study investigated the associations between inflammatory factors in clinical practice and frailty progression over time.

Methods: Data of 2316 participants (age 67.9 ± 6.1 years) were obtained from the English longitudinal study of aging (wave 4, 6 and 8) over an 8-year follow-up. The frailty index (FI) was calculated from 52 items. Mixed-effects models and Cox proportional hazards (Cox-PH) models were used to analyze the associations of hsCRP, WBC and fibrinogen with frailty progression. Values of inflammatory biomarkers were log-transformed. Age, sex and gross wealth were controlled.

Results: Mixed-effects models showed that at a cross-sectional level, higher levels of hsCRP (β: 0.007, 95% CI 0.004-0.010), WBC (β: 0.021, 95% CI 0.010-0.032) and fibrinogen (β: 0.022, 95% CI 0.005-0.038) were associated with greater FI values while no significant time interaction was found. Cox-PH models showed that higher baseline levels of hsCRP (HR: 1.10, 95% CI 1.03-1.17) and WBC (HR: 1.23, 95% CI 1.10-1.37) were linked to a greater risk of developing frailty within 8 years.

Conclusions: We concluded that hsCRP, WBC and fibrinogen can reflect frailty status at a cross-sectional level while only hsCRP and WBC are associated with frailty progression over an 8-year period.

Citing Articles

The relationship between sleep duration and frailty: findings from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.

Huang L, He X, Zuo Y, Yang H, Zhang L Front Public Health. 2025; 12:1493533.

PMID: 39764189 PMC: 11701061. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1493533.

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