# Dietary total antioxidant capacity and frailty in Turkish community-dwelling and nursing home: cross-sectional study

## TL;DR

This study explores how the antioxidant content of diets relates to frailty and health in older Turkish adults living in the community or nursing homes.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the link between dietary antioxidants and frailty in older adults from different living environments.

## Key findings

- Nursing home residents had higher frailty rates and different nutrient intakes compared to community dwellers.
- Frailty was strongly linked to lower Katz and MNA-SF scores but weakly correlated with antioxidant measures.
- Residential setting was negatively associated with several dietary antioxidant capacity indicators.

## Abstract

This study examines the relationship between dietary total antioxidant capacity, frailty, and nutritional status in Turkish older adults living in the community and nursing homes.

This study included 160 older adults (50% female) living in the community (n = 80) and a nursing home (n = 80). Anthropometric measurements were taken, and BMI was calculated. Demographic characteristics, nutritional status (MNA-SF: Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form), frailty (FRAIL Scale), activities of daily living (Katz ADL), and three-day food consumption records were assessed. Dietary total antioxidant capacity was determined based on the three-day food consumption record.

The mean ages of the groups were similar (72.5 ± 6.0 and 72.2 ± 5.9 years). Nursing home residents had significantly higher rates of chronic disease (91.3%) and regular medication use (90.0%) (p < 0.05). Overweight was more prevalent among community dwellers (50.0%, p < 0.05), while obesity was more common in nursing home residents (26.2%, p > 0.05). Frail (32.5%) and pre-frail (40.0%) rates were higher in nursing home residents compared to elderly community dwellers (21.2 and 38.8%, respectively). Dependence ratios were similar between the groups (p > 0.05). Community-dwelling participants had a lower risk of malnutrition. While their daily carbohydrate intake was lower, nursing home residents had higher intakes of protein, fat, ω-3 fatty acids, fiber, vitamins (except vitamin E), and minerals. Frailty showed a strong negative correlation with Katz (r = −0.56, p < 0.001) and MNA-SF scores (r = −0.44, p < 0.001), while weak positive correlations were observed with TRAP, TEAC, and FRAP3 values. A negative correlation was observed between the residential setting and TORAC (r = −0.424, p < 0.001), TRAP (r = −0.190, p < 0.001), TEAC (r = −0.257, p < 0.001), and total VCEAC (r = −0.241, p = 0.002) values.

Residential setting may affect nutrient intake, frailty, dietary total antioxidant capacity, and overall health in older adults.