The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Jul 2017
Dynamical Resilience Indicators in Time Series of Self-Rated Health Correspond to Frailty Levels in Older Adults.
We currently still lack valid methods to dynamically measure resilience for stressors before the appearance of adverse health outcomes that hamper well-being. Quantifying an older adult's resilience in an early stage would aid complex decision-making in health care. Translating complex dynamical systems theory to humans, we hypothesized that three dynamical indicators of resilience (variance, temporal autocorrelation, and cross-correlation) in time series of self-rated physical, mental, and social health were associated with frailty levels in older adults. ⋯ We found supporting evidence for two out of three hypothesized resilience indicators to be related to frailty levels in older adults. By mirroring the dynamical resilience indicators to a frailty index, we delivered a first empirical base to validate and quantify the construct of systemic resilience in older adults in a dynamic way.