Effect of participating in Kayoi‐no‐ba during the COVID‐19 pandemic on frailty 1 year later in older adults

• DOI: 10.1111/ggi.70029
• Publication Date: 2025-03-15T07:23:31Z
• Authors: Hiroki Mori; Satoshi Seino; Yuri Yokoyama; Mari Yamashita; Yu Nofuji; Takuya Ueda; Akihiko Kitamura; Shinji Hattori; Minoru Yamada; Katsunori Kondo; Hidenori Arai; Hayato Uchida; Erika Kobayashi; Yoshinori Fujiwara

AimThis study examined the short‐term effects of participation in Kayoi‐no‐ba – community gathering places for residents to contribute to care prevention with the support of volunteers in Japan – on frailty status during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, based on a 1‐year longitudinal study of older adults.MethodsParticipants (n = 3899) were aged ≥65 years. At baseline, they were classified into four groups, based on their frequency of participation in Kayoi‐no‐ba before and after the COVID‐19 pandemic: the nonparticipation group, the continued participation group, the interrupted participation group and the new participation group. Frailty status, assessed using the modified Kihon Checklist, was the dependent variable. A generalized linear mixed‐effects model was used to compare frailty status changes after a 1‐year follow up in the four groups.ResultsThe frailty prevalence at baseline was 30.8% in the nonparticipation group, and 37.2% in the participation group. The frailty prevalence in the participation group was significantly reduced at the 1‐year follow up (−3.9 percentage points [95% CI −7.4, −0.5]), compared with that of the nonparticipation group. In subgroup analyses, the frailty prevalence was reduced at the 1‐year follow up in the order of continued participation group (−4.5 percentage points [95% CI −8.9, −0.2]), new participation group (−4.0 percentage points [95% CI −12.9, 5.0]), and interrupted participation group (−2.4 percentage points [95% CI −9.1, 4.3]), compared with the nonparticipation group (P = 0.024 for trend).ConclusionsEven during the COVID‐19 pandemic, participation in Kayoi‐no‐ba was effective in preventing/reducing frailty. Thus, avoiding prolonged nonparticipation in Kayoi‐no‐ba might be important. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2025; 25: 598–605.