Guava Fruit and Acacia pennata Vegetable Intake Association with Frailty of Older Adults in Northern Thailand.

Jetsada Ruangsuriya,Nida Buawangpong,Penprapa Siviroj,Rawiwan Wongpoomchai,Wachiranun Sirikul,Somdet Srichairatanakool

doi:10.3390/nu14061192

Abstract

As Thailand moves toward an aging society, frailty has become a concern amongst northern Thai elderly. The causes of frailty are multifactorial and include genetic, environmental, and socio-economic factors; diet is of particular interest. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2017 to investigate what kind of diets normally consumed by 350 Thai elders were associated with frailty using a questionnaire and frailty determination by Fried’s phenotype followed by phytochemical analyses of the diets. The multivariable logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significant positive association between certain foods and lower frailty. Guava fruit and Acacia pennata vegetable consumption had lower odds of frailty, which were 0.52 times (95% CI 0.28–0.96, p = 0.037) and 0.42 times (95% CI 0.21–0.83, p = 0.012) when adjusted for the potential confounders. The phytochemical analyses of guava fruit showed a significantly higher amount of total flavonoids (p < 0.001), total phenolic compounds (p = 0.002), and antioxidant capacity, including DPPH (p < 0.001), ABTS (p < 0.001), and FRAP (p = 0.002) when compared to those of banana. Acacia pennata vegetable contained a significantly higher amount of total phenolic compounds (p = 0.012) when compared to those of lettuce. These findings may assist in health promotion programs of frailty prevention by encouraging an increase in consumption of either guava fruit or Acacia pennata vegetable among Thai elderly.

Highlights

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome, which has been defined as physiological function decline with increase in age, resulting from a cumulative decline that depletes homoeostatic reserves until minor stressor events trigger disproportionate changes in health status
The results showed guava fruit and Acacia pennata vegetable consumption had lower odds of frailty, which were 0.52 times and 0.42 times when adjusted for the potential confounders
We have carried out this research and found what could be promoted in the diet of Thai elderly to prevent frailty: guava fruit and Acacia pennata vegetable

Summary

Introduction

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome, which has been defined as physiological function decline with increase in age, resulting from a cumulative decline that depletes homoeostatic reserves until minor stressor events trigger disproportionate changes in health status. It increases the risk of adverse health outcomes as reduced functional reserve, impairs multisystem function, and can increase the risk of disability or premature death. It increases healthcare costs and other social welfare costs [1–3]. A systematic analysis of frailty in 62 countries showed the overall frailty prevalence assessed by either physical phenotype (PP) or deficit accumulation model (frailty indicies, FI) was 12% by PP and 24% by FI and both methods suggested that frailty in females was more prevalent than males [6]

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Conclusion