Eating disorder-related attitudes as predictors of pre-frailty/frailty in older adults: a cross-sectional clinical study.
6 affiliations
- 1Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye. [email protected].
- 2Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye.
- 3Department of Geriatric Medicine, Beyhekim Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Konya, Türkiye.
- 4Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ankara Etlik City Hospital, Ankara, Türkiye.
- 5Department of Geriatric Medicine, Osmaniye Training and Research Hospital, Osmaniye, Türkiye.
- 6Department of Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Abstract
Objective
Frailty is a prevalent geriatric syndrome influenced by nutritional status, body composition, and functional capacity. Nevertheless, the role of eating disorder-related attitudes and behaviors in older adults is not definitively known. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the association between frailty and eating disorder-related attitudes and behaviors in older adults.Methods
This cross-sectional study included 79 older adults (73.2 ± 6.14 years) attending a geriatric outpatient clinic. Frailty was assessed using the Frailty score, and participants were classified as non-frail or pre-frail/frail. Eating disorder-related attitudes were evaluated using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). Anthropometric measurements, body composition assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis, and handgrip strength were obtained. Spearman correlation and logistic regression analyses were performed.Results
Pre-frail/frail individuals had significantly higher scores for thoughts about body shape and weight compared with non-frail participants (p = 0.029). Disordered eating behaviors showed positive correlations with visceral fat and body mass index (BMI), while body fat percentage was positively correlated with the frailty score (p < 0.05). Furthermore, logistic regression analysis showed that higher total EDE-Q scores were associated with higher odds of frailty risk (p = 0.036).Conclusion
Eating disorder-related attitudes may be associated with increased frailty risk in older adults, highlighting the potential importance of integrating disordered eating assessments into geriatric evaluation.
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BibTeX
@article{dazıroglu2026eating,
title = {{Eating disorder-related attitudes as predictors of pre-frailty/frailty in older adults: a cross-sectional clinical study.}},
author = {Merve Esra Çıtar Dazıroğlu and Şerife Akpınar Şentüre and Esra Çataltepe and Eda Çeker and Ayşe Fadıloğlu and Hacer Doğan Varan and Nilüfer Acar Tek},
journal = {BMC geriatrics},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1186/s12877-026-08039-9},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958060},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Eating disorder-related attitudes as predictors of pre-frailty/frailty in older adults: a cross-sectional clinical study.
AU - Merve Esra Çıtar Dazıroğlu
AU - Şerife Akpınar Şentüre
AU - Esra Çataltepe
AU - Eda Çeker
AU - Ayşe Fadıloğlu
AU - Hacer Doğan Varan
AU - Nilüfer Acar Tek
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/01
JO - BMC geriatrics
DO - 10.1186/s12877-026-08039-9
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958060
AB - Objective Frailty is a prevalent geriatric syndrome influenced by nutritional status, body composition, and functional capacity. Nevertheless, the role of eating disorder-related attitudes and behaviors in older adults is not definitively known. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the association between frailty and eating disorder-related attitudes and behaviors in older adults.Methods This cross-sectional study included 79 older adults (73.2 ± 6.14 years) attending a geriatric outpatient clinic. Frailty was assessed using the Frailty score, and participants were classified as non-frail or pre-frail/frail. Eating disorder-related attitudes were evaluated using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q). Anthropometric measurements, body composition assessed by bioelectrical impedance analysis, and handgrip strength were obtained. Spearman correlation and logistic regression analyses were performed.Results Pre-frail/frail individuals had significantly higher scores for thoughts about body shape and weight compared with non-frail participants (p = 0.029). Disordered eating behaviors showed positive correlations with visceral fat and body mass index (BMI), while body fat percentage was positively correlated with the frailty score (p < 0.05). Furthermore, logistic regression analysis showed that higher total EDE-Q scores were associated with higher odds of frailty risk (p = 0.036).Conclusion Eating disorder-related attitudes may be associated with increased frailty risk in older adults, highlighting the potential importance of integrating disordered eating assessments into geriatric evaluation.
SN - 1471-2318
ER -