• BMJ open · Feb 2019

    Minimum income for healthy living and frailty in adults over 65 years old in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing: a population-based cohort study.

    • Paul Nicholas Watts, David Blane, and Gopalakrishnan Netuveli.
    • School of Health, Sports and Bioscience, University of East London, London, UK.
    • BMJ Open. 2019 Feb 27; 9 (2): e025334.

    ObjectiveTo test whether minimum income for healthy living of a person aged 65 years or older (MIHL65) is associated with frailty in older adults.Design And SettingSecondary analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a multiwave prospective cohort study in England, UK.ParticipantsA subset (n=1342) of English Longitudinal Study of Ageing participants, who at wave 1 in 2002 were aged 65 years or older, without any limiting long-standing illnesses, and who had the information required to calculate MIHL65 in 2002, 2004 and 2006 and two measures of frailty in 2008.Main Outcome MeasuresFrailty defined using Fried's phenotype criteria and Rockwood's Index of deficits.ResultsThe odds of frailty in 2008 were significantly higher for participants living below MIHL65 in 2002, both on Fried's phenotype criteria (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.57 to 4.19) and Rockwood's Index (OR 2.83, 95% CI 1.74 to 4.60). These associations remained after adjustment for age and gender for both Fried's phenotype (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.18 to 2.90) and Rockwood's Index (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.38 to 3.35). Compared with those whose income during 2002-2006 was always above MIHL65, the odds of frailty in 2008 for those below MIHL65 were two-to-three times higher, with a tendency for the ORs to increase in line with the length of time spent below MIHL65 (ORs (95% CIs) were: Fried's phenotype, below MIHL65 once: 2.02 (1.23 to 3.34); twice: 2.52 (1.37 to 4.62); thrice: 3.53 (1.65 to 7.55). Rockwood's Index: once: 2.34 (1.41 to 3.86); twice: 3.06 (1.64 to 5.71); thrice: 2.56 (1.22 to 5.34)). These associations remained after adjustment for age and gender on Rockwood's Index, but not Fried's phenotype.ConclusionsThese results provide some support for the idea that frailty at older ages is associated with not having sufficient income to lead a healthy life.© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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