The population of older adults is rising consistently. In 2023, the global population was roughly 8 billion, with around 1.14 billion individuals aged 60 years or older, representing 14.22% of the total population. The United Nations (UN) forecasts that by 2050, almost two billion individuals aged 60 and older will constitute 20% of the global population. In 2024, the senior demographic in Thailand comprised 20.0%. The ratio of older women exceeded that of older men, at 57.9 percent and 42.1 percent, respectively. Older women outnumbered older men across all age groupings. The age distribution of the older people revealed that the largest section was the early older adults (60-69 years) at 59.3 percent, followed by the middle older adults (70-79 years) at 29.8 percent, and the late older adults (80 years and above) comprised the smallest part at 10.9 percent. Health issues in older adults encompass chronic non-communicable diseases and geriatric syndromes, including depression and frailty, which are critical contributors to morbidity and mortality. Circadian syndrome (CircS) was proposed and used by Zimmet et al. as a syndrome resulting from abnormalities in the circadian rhythm, which regulates sleep-wake cycles, mood, metabolism, and the functioning of various bodily systems. CircS is characterized by the presence of at least four of seven risk factors: central obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, depression, short sleep duration, and low HDL cholesterol levels. Frailty is one of the geriatric syndromes that contributes to falls, dependency, and premature death. Frailty is a multifaceted and evolving illness, characterized as a state of heightened vulnerability due to age-related declines in reserve and function across various physiological systems, compromising the ability to manage everyday or acute stressors. CircS has been linked to frailty in older adults and contributes to elevated morbidity and mortality rates. Nevertheless, research on this topic is sparse. Consequently, researchers require additional studies to implement the findings for improved older care. Objectives 1. The primary goal is to identify and categorize the available literature that examines the relationship between CircS and frailty. This includes geographic distribution and demographics (e.g., age, sex, and ethnicity) of the populations, the volume of research published, and frailty types. 2. The secondary goal is to identify methodological variation in assessment of CircS and frailty. 3. The third goal is to identify research gaps and future directions.
Prommaban et al. (Thu,) studied this question.