Effects of receiving and providing family support on mortality in non-frail, pre-frail and frail older adults in Taiwan: a 12-year follow-up longitudinal study

BackgroundTo investigate the association between providing or receiving family support and risk of mortality in non-frail, pre-frail and frail older people.MethodsData were obtained from Taiwan's Longitudinal Study on Aging(TLSA) from 1996 to 2007 for 2186 people (1207 males; 979 females) aged67years at the time of 1996 follow-up survey. These older adults were categorized as being non-frail (normal), pre-frail, and frail, with frailty defined as the presence of three or more of the following criteria: shrinking, weakness, exhaustion, slowness, and low physical activity. Cox regression analysis was used to examine the association between the people's providing family support or their receiving family support on mortality, after adjustment for several demographic and health status covariates.ResultsThe participants (55.9% male) had an average age of 73.8 (SD 5.5) years. In total, 886 (40.5%) were classified as non-frail, 886 (40.5%) as pre-frail and 414 (19.9%) as frail. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed a significant association between providing family support and lower mortality rates in the non-frail older adults (hazard ratio 0.913; 95% confidence interval 0.855-0.975; p=0.0063). This association was also significant in the younger (67-74years old) pre-frail males but not females after adjustment. No significant association was found between receiving family support and mortality risk regardless of the frailty status, age, or gender.ConclusionsProviding family support to others may prolong life expectancy of the pre-frail older adults.