Exploring frailty and adverse childhood experiences in older adults
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A cross-sectional study exploring frailty in older people and the possible inter-relationship with early adverse childhood experiences.
IRAS ID
251273
Contact name
David Snoddy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 13 days
Research summary
Individuals who have been identified as frail are more likely to experience severe adverse health outcomes than their non-frail counterparts. Frailty has been associated with an increased risk of falls, 6 times higher risk of death, a 10 times higher chance on entry into a nursing home, declining mobility, and reductions in activities of daily living. This is particularly concerning as the number of frail individuals is set to increase as the population of people who are older rises.
Although several factors have been identified to contribute to and maintain frailty, there is a gap in the literature when considering adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). ACEs are defined as any form of physical or emotional abuse, neglect, and witnessing violence in the home or community. There is a suggestion that ACEs become embedded within the person if they happen at an early age, which will increase the wear-and-tear on their body and cause disruption to important health systems as a result. In both frailty and ACEs, researchers have looked at how resilience can prevent the associated negative outcomes; as not all older people are frail and not all individuals who experience ACEs have the associated negative health outcomes.
This research aims to assess whether there is a relationship between ACEs and the level of frailty in people who are older. Furthermore, the researcher hopes to review if an individual’s resilience moderates the impact ACEs has on frailty if a relationship exists. This will be done by recruiting individuals who are 65 years of age or older from an NHS setting. They will then be given questionnaires to complete that will measure ACEs, frailty, and resilience. If a relationship is discovered, it is hoped that treatment options can be developed to prevent individuals who experience ACEs from acquiring frailty in later life.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
19/WS/0073
Date of REC Opinion
21 May 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion