Associations between information and communication technology use and frailty in community-dwelling old-old adults: results from the ILSA-J

To investigate whether ICT use is associated with frailty among community-dwelling older people aged 75 and older. Higher ICT use was linked to absence of frailty among persons aged 75 years and older, and comparable findings were observed when stratified by gender, years of education, and living arrangements. This cross-sectional study found that higher ICT use was associated with less frailty; ICT use and frailty are closely related and causal relationships need to be clarified in the future. Frailty is a significant cause of adverse health events including long-term care and hospitalization. Although information and communication technology (ICT) has become an integral part of modern life, it remains unclear whether ICT use is associated with frailty. A cross-sectional study (Integrated Longitudinal Studies on Aging in Japan, ILSA-J). Aged 75 and older data from the ILSA-J in 2017 (n = 2893). ICT use was measured using the technology usage sub-items of the Japan Science and Technology Agency Index of Competence. Specifically, the use of mobile phones, ATMs, DVD players, and sending e-mails were rated as “yes” (able to do) or “no” (unable to do), with the first quintile (≤1 point) defined as ICT non-users. Frailty was assessed using the Japanese version of the Cardiovascular Health Study criteria based on the phenotype model (e.g., weight loss, slowness, weakness, exhaustion, and low activity). Further, multivariate logistic regression analysis analyzed its association with ICT use. Subgroup analyses were stratified according to gender, years of education, and living arrangements. Higher ICT use was not associated with frailty after adjusting for covariates (odds ratio [OR]: 0.53; 95