Foods, nutrients and risk of in-hospital frailty in women: findings from a large prospective cohort study

Frailty is increasingly prevalent worldwide because of aging populations. Diet may play a role as a modifiable risk factor. This study aimed to investigate associations between die-tary factors and risk of frailty in the UK Women’s Cohort admitted to hospitals in England. Consumption of foods and nutrients were estimated using a validated 217-item food frequency questionnaire at baseline. Incident frailty was assessed via a hospital frailty risk score based on linkage with hospital episode statistics. Out of 25,186 participants admitted to hospitals, 6919 (27%) were identified with frailty and 10,562 (42%) with pre-frailty over a mean follow-up of 12.7 years. After adjustment for confounding, we observed a 12% increase in risk of frailty with each additional 10g/MJ intake of total meat (HR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.17), with the highest risk observed for processed meats (HR=1.45, 95%CI: 1.21, 1.73). Similar associations were observed with pre-frailty and more severe. Vegetable intake was associated with slightly lower risk of frailty (HR=0.98, 95%CI: 0.97, 1.00). There was no evidence of association between most nutrient intakes and in-hospital frailty risk. Overall, our findings suggest that reducing consumption of meat, especially processed meat, in adults may be beneficial regarding the development of frailty.