A study spanning 14 years and counting has found that half of the elderly here are frail — especially the low-income, and those who are single, divorced or widowed — due to factors including malnutrition, lack of exercise and having chronic diseases.
A study by National University of Singapore (NUS), with Associate Professor Ng Tze Pin as the lead researcher, reported that elderly who are frail are twice as likely to die earlier as compared to their peers and are likely to become functionally disabled. When one is suffering from both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, they are more than 20 times likely to become disabled, hospitalised or die earlier. Hence, he stressed the need for these seniors to adopt a health regimen of a good diet and nutrition, engage in physical activities and partake in socially and cognitively stimulating events.
The longitudinal study was started in 2003, and involved almost 3,000 elderly aged 55 years and above found that malnourishment was a big factor in causing frailty. More than half of those who were frail were found to be malnourished.
Associate Prof Ng said, “socio-economic factors could lead to malnutrition”. He added that eating is a social activity, in which one is more likely to consume more food with others than alone, hence a single elderly person are likely not consuming enough. Struggling financially also causes them to be unable to afford nutritious meals.
Appetite and absorption of nutrients also gets poorer with age, and the situation is worsened if they lose their teeth, he noted.
Having chronic diseases was also a major factor, with about 80 per cent of the frail elderly having five or more chronic diseases.
A separate study found that intervention measures such as physical and cognitive training, and more nutritious meals, reduced frailty and depressive symptoms.
Following the findings of the two studies, the NUS research team is working with the national Geriatric Education and Research Institute, as well as social service organisations, to develop and implement pilot frailty screening, and community intervention programmes.
Between 2000 and 2014, the proportion of one-person households in Singapore increased from 8 per cent to 11 per cent, Social and Family Development Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said in a 2015 speech. He also said that these changes in family structures – smaller households and more aged households – could prompt a re-examination of the way the government crafts its policies.
Read more here.
Source: TODAYonline, 20 June 2017