ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Aging
Sec. Healthy Longevity
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fragi.2025.1589369
This article is part of the Research TopicOne Health in AgingView all articles
Research on Intrinsic Capacity as a Predictor of Falls and Disability in Community-Dwelling Elderly
Provisionally accepted
- Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
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BackgroundWith aging, a decline in intrinsic capacity can lead to functional impairments, thereby increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes.ObjectivesThis study aims to explore the prediction of intrinsic capacity decline on adverse health outcomes, such as falls and disability, over the course of one year. By addressing the gap in longitudinal research on community populations in China, the study seeks to deepen the local understanding of healthy aging theory, providing theoretical support for the development of elderly health intervention strategies tailored to Chinese contexts.MethodsA convenience sampling method was employed to select 248 community-dwelling elderly participants. Over a one-year follow-up period, the outcomes of falls and disability were monitored. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between intrinsic capacity and these outcomes.ResultsAmong the 248 participants, 46 (19%) experienced falls, and 31 (12.8%) became disabled during the follow-up year. The locomotive dimension (OR=25.87, 95% CI: 2.95–227.03), psychological dimension (OR=25.29, 95% CI: 6.45–99.28), and sensory dimensions (OR=10.75, 95% CI: 2.92–39.56) were identified as significant risk factors for falls. For disability, the locomotive dimension (OR=4.15, 95% CI: 0.97–17.72), cognitive dimension (OR=11.27, 95% CI: 3.51–36.18), and psychological dimension (OR=4.58, 95% CI: 1.69–12.40) were significant risk factors.ConclusionsDecline in intrinsic capacity serves as an independent predictor of both falls and disability among community-dwelling elderly individuals over the course of one year. Early identification of elderly individuals with decreased intrinsic capacity, along with targeted interventions based on different intrinsic capacity levels, can effectively reduce the incidence of falls and disability.
Keywords: Elderly, Intrinsic capacity, falls, Disability, community elderly care
Received: 07 Mar 2025; Accepted: 12 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, You, Wang, Li and Yuan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ling Li, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, Hubei Province, China
Jinrong Yuan, Wuhan Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, Hubei Province, China
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