Frailty, Quality of Life, and Loneliness of Aging in Native and Diasporic Chinese Adults

Background: Global migration has increased in the past century, and aging in a foreign country is relevant to the Chinese diaspora. Objective: With regard to migration, this study focuses on the places of aging as the context of older Chinese adults. This study aimed to describe the general health and wellbeing of this population with respect to their location. Design: This study has a cross sectional design. Setting and Participants: Participants were recruited who were “aging in place” from Tianjin, China (199 participants), and “aging out of place” from the Netherlands (134 participants). Data from April to May 2019 in China and November 2018 to March 2019 in the Netherlands were aggregated. Measurements: Frailty, QoL and loneliness were used in both samples. Results: T-tests and regression analyses demonstrated that social domains of frailty and QoL, as well as loneliness and frailty prevalence characterized the major differences between both places of aging. A correlation analysis and visual correlation network revealed that frailty, quality of life (QoL), and loneliness were more closely related in the aging out of place sample. Social domains of frailty and QoL, as well as the prevalence of loneliness and frailty, characterized the major differences between both places of aging. Conclusions: The findings indicate that frailty, QoL, and loneliness have a complex relationship, confirming that loneliness is a major detriment to the general wellbeing of older Chinese adults aging out of place. This study examined the places of aging of the larger Chinese population and allows a comprehensive understanding of health and wellbeing. The social components, especially loneliness, among the aging out of place Chinese community should receive more attention practice and clinical wise. On the other hand, frailty as well as its prevention is of more importance for the Chinese community aging in place.