Grandchild Care and Frailty in Later Life: Evidence From Older Koreans

Abstract

Grandchild care is an enriching, joyful experience but can sometimes be stressful. This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of grandchild care on new-onset frailty among community-dwelling older Korean adults. Data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging on 8744 individuals were subjected to analysis. Eight thousand three hundred thirteen were allocated to a non-care group and 431 to a care group. All were followed until frailty developed. A gender-stratified Cox proportional hazards model adjusted for potential confounders was utilized to examine the relationship between grandchild care and the risk of developing frailty. Providing grandchild care for men had a hazard ratio of 0.82 (95% CI, 0.65-1.03; p = 0.093), and for women, the provision of grandchild care was associated with a significantly lower risk of developing frailty, with a hazard ratio of 0.78 (95% CI, 0.67-0.91; p = 0.002). In conclusion, grandchild care was significantly associated with a lower risk of frailty development among older Korean women.