Abstract

Frailty is characterized by diminished resilience to stressor events. It is associated with adverse future health outcomes and impedes healthy aging. The circadian system orchestrates ~24-h rhythms in bodily functions in synchrony with the day-night cycle, and disturbed circadian regulation plays an important role in many age-related health consequences. We investigated prospective associations of circadian disturbances with incident frailty in over 1000 older adults who had been followed annually for up to 16 years. We found that decreased rhythm strength, reduced stability, or increased variation were associated with a higher risk of incident frailty and faster progress of frailty over time. Perturbed circadian rest-activity rhythms may be an early sign or risk factor for frailty in older adults.

The relationship between circadian function and frailty is not well understood. Here, the authors show that disturbances in circadian rest-activity rhythms were associated with an elevated frailty risk and faster progress of frailty in older adults.

Details

Title
Circadian disturbances and frailty risk in older adults
Author
Cai, Ruixue 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gao, Lei 2 ; Gao, Chenlu 2 ; Yu, Lei 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zheng, Xi 4 ; Bennett, David A. 3 ; Buchman, Aron S. 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hu, Kun 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Li, Peng 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Medical Biodynamics Program, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.62560.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 0378 8294); Southeast University, School of Public Health, Nanjing, China (GRID:grid.263826.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 1761 0489) 
2  Medical Biodynamics Program, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.62560.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 0378 8294); Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.38142.3c) (ISNI:000000041936754X); Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.38142.3c) (ISNI:000000041936754X) 
3  Rush University Medical Center, Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Chicago, USA (GRID:grid.240684.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0705 3621) 
4  Medical Biodynamics Program, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA (GRID:grid.62560.37) (ISNI:0000 0004 0378 8294) 
Pages
7219
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-42727-z
ProQuest document ID
2896975230
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.