The peer-reviewed study, published in Journal of Epidemiology and Community HealthIt studied how factors such as smoking, physical activity, sitting, sleeping and diet affect the chances of people needing admission to nursing homes.
The best scores were given to those who were active for more than 300 minutes a week, didn’t smoke, slept seven to nine hours a day, sat less than seven in addition to eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, she worked out eight hours a day. Vegetables and reduce the intake of red and processed meat.
The participants were divided into three groups based on their scores: low risk, medium risk, and high risk.
During a median follow-up of about 10 years, 18% of participants were admitted to a nursing home, and those in the high-risk group were 43% more likely to be admitted than in the low-risk group. Participants in the medium-risk group were 12% more likely to be accepted than in the low-risk group.
The researchers found that each lifestyle behaviours Excluding diet, they were independently linked to an increased risk of admission to nursing homes, with age and physical frailty influencing how much they affected.
The limits of the study
However, the researchers stressed that they were unable to access records showing the exact reason for each participant’s admission to the nursing home nor the presence of other conditions at the time of admission. The study also did not take into account social isolation and loneliness, Which has been shown to have an impact on the mental and physical health of the elderly.
Participants reported their lifestyle factors, but these were measured only once. This means that any changes in their lifestyle cannot be tracked during the observation period. Additionally, the questionnaire was not comprehensive on dietary lifestyle choices. This may explain why researchers were not able to find an independent association between diet and an increased risk of nursing home admission.
The first study to examine the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and the need for home care
” “Health care is critical,” said Dr Alice Gibson of the Charles Perkins Center and the Menzies Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Sydney.
At a public health level, this study suggests we should focus on quitting smoking, increasing physical activity, and reducing chronic stress to improve our overall well-being,” said Dr. Bobson.
“You may still be considered ‘low risk’ in general even if you are ‘high risk’ in one behavior,” Gibson noted. “Another positive message from our research is that BMI has nothing to do with risk of admission to nursing homes. This supports the notion in the broader literature that some excess weight can be protective at an older age.