Purpose Nordic nutrition recommendations (2012) suggest protein intake ≥ 1.1 g/kg body weight (BW) to preserve physical function in Nordic older adults. However, no published study has used this cutoff to evaluate the association between protein intake and frailty. This study examined associations between protein intake, and sources of protein intake, with frailty status at the 3-year follow-up. Methods Participants were 440 women aged 65─72 years enrolled in the Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Prevention-Fracture Prevention Study. Protein intake g/kg BW and g/d was calculated using a 3-day food record at baseline 2003─4. At the 3-year follow-up (2006─7), frailty phenotype was defined as the presence of three or more, and prefrailty as the presence of one or two, of the Fried criteria: low grip strength adjusted for body mass index, low walking speed, low physical activity, exhaustion was defined using a low life-satisfaction score, and weight loss > 5% of BW. The association between protein intake, animal protein and plant protein, and frailty status was examined by multinomial regression analysis adjusting for demographics, chronic conditions, and total energy intake. Results At the 3-year follow-up, 36 women were frail and 206 women were prefrail. Higher protein intake ≥ 1.1 g/kg BW was associated with a lower likelihood of prefrailty (OR = 0.45 and 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.01-0.73) and frailty (OR = 0.09 and CI = 0.01-0.75) when compared to protein intake < 1.1 g/kg BW at the 3-year follow-up. Women in the higher tertile of animal protein intake, but not plant protein, had a lower prevalence of frailty (P for trend = 0.04). Conclusions Protein intake ≥ 1.1 g/kg BW and higher intake of animal protein may be beneficial to prevent the onset of frailty in older women.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether the interaction of physical activity (PA) and protein intake is associated with physical function (PF). The women from the Osteoporosis Risk Factor and Fracture Prevention Study (n 610) completed a questionnaire on lifestyle factors and PA and underwent PF and body composition measurements at baseline (BL) and over 3 years of follow-up (3y-FU). PA was categorised according to WHO cut-off PA = 0, 0 < PA < 2·5 and PA ≥ 2·5 h/week. Protein intake was calculated from the 3-d food record at baseline and categorised according to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations <1·1 and ≥1·1 g/kg body weight (BW). The results showed in univariate ANOVA at the baseline and at the 3-year follow-up, women with high PA ≥ 2·5 h/week and protein intake ≥ 1·1 g/kg BW had higher grip strength adjusted for BMI, higher mean number of chair rises, faster mean walking speed, higher modified mean short physical performance battery score and lower mean fat mass compared with other interaction groups. High PA and protein intake were associated with lower BMI despite significantly higher energy intake. In conclusion, higher PA and protein intake interaction was associated with greater PF and lower fat mass, but the association with relative skeletal muscle index and muscle mass was inconclusive. The present study gives noteworthy information for preventing sarcopenia.

The aim of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the independent effect of postural sway on overall fracture and osteoporotic fracture risk after controlling for other established fracture risk factors. As a secondary outcome, mortality was also investigated. The study sample is a stratified random sample of 1568 women born between 1932 and 1941, residing in Kuopio province, eastern Finland. Fracture data were obtained through study questionnaires and verified through hospital records. Mortality data were verified through the National Registry. Using static posturography, postural sway was recorded for 1568 women at the fifth year of follow‐up in 1994 through 1997. Mediolateral (ML), anteroposterior (AP), and total sway parameters were used for analysis. Mean follow‐up time for any fractures, osteoporotic fractures, and mortality was 10.6, 11.4, and 17.5 years, respectively. After adjustment, subjects in the highest quartile of ML sway (HR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.5 to 2.8) and total sway (HR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2 to 2.2) had a higher risk for any fracture. Osteoporotic fracture risk was also higher in the fourth quartile of ML sway (HR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.0) and total sway (HR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.0 to 2.8). The models were adjusted for fracture risk assessment tool risk factors and leg‐extension strength. Further, women having both lowest bone density and highest postural sway were at 4.9 (95% CI, 2.6 to 9.5) times higher risk of overall fracture and 11.8 (95% CI, 2.7 to 51.3) times higher risk for osteoporotic fracture in comparison with subjects having highest bone density and lowest postural sway. The association between postural sway and mortality was not significant after adjustment. In conclusion, high postural sway is an independent risk factor for any fractures as well as for osteoporotic fractures. A combination of low bone density and high postural sway poses even higher fracture risk than either factor alone. Postural sway does not predict mortality independently. © 2019 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Background Physical capacity and subjective wellbeing are important for healthy aging. Our aim was to study how objective/subjective physical capacity and subjective health relate to life satisfaction, in a 10-year follow-up of aging women. Methods The participants (n = 1485, mean age 67.4 years) consisted of community-dwelling older women living in Kuopio, Finland. Grip strength and one-legged stance test time were used as objective, and self-rated mobility (SRM) as subjective physical capacity measures. Self-rated health (SRH) and SRM were assessed with one-item scales and life satisfaction with a 4-item scale. Correlation and linear regression were used to analyze these relationships and correlation network analysis to visualize them. Age and BMI were included in the analysis as adjusting factors. Results All the study variables were significantly correlated with baseline and follow-up life satisfaction, except BMI, which was only associated with life satisfaction at follow-up. On both occasions, SRH and SRM were the two strongest correlates of life satisfaction, but their mutual correlation was still higher. In linear regression analyses, SRH was positively associated with both baseline and follow-up life satisfaction, but physical capacity measures became non-significant after including SRH and SRM in the model. In the partial correlation network analyses, SRH and SRM were the most central nodes, connecting every other variable. Conclusions Self-reports on health, mobility, and life satisfaction are closely intertwined and provide easily accessible health information among aging women, but the impacts of objective physical capacity measures warrant further longitudinal studies in respect to subjective wellbeing among aging people.