Long-term impact of a senior volunteer-driven frailty check programme on care dependency and expenditures: a 10-year population-based cohort study in Japan.

Background Although volunteer-driven, community-based interventions to prevent long-term care (LTC) dependency have shown promise, long-term evidence of their effectiveness and economic impact remains scarce. We aimed to evaluate the association of a volunteer-driven frailty check (FC) programme wit...

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Publicado en:Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 6; pp. 1 - 9
Autores principales: Tanaka, Tomoki, Yoshizawa, Yasuyo, Lyu, Weida, Iijima, Katsuya
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Oxford University Press / USA Jun2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2026
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      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
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        10.1093/ageing/afag161
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        atl: Long-term impact of a senior volunteer-driven frailty check programme on care dependency and expenditures: a 10-year population-based cohort study in Japan.
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        au:
          Tanaka, Tomoki
          Yoshizawa, Yasuyo
          Lyu, Weida
          Iijima, Katsuya
        affil:
          Institute of Gerontology, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanInstitute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanKashiwa City Hall, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan
          Institute of Gerontology, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanKashiwa City Hall, Kashiwa, Chiba, JapanDepartment of Healthy Life Expectancy, Juntendo University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
          Institute of Gerontology, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
          Institute of Gerontology, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, JapanInstitute for Future Initiatives, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
      su:
        Japan
        Elder care
        Evaluation of human services programs
        Retrospective studies
        Dependency (Psychology)
        Population-based case control
        Frail elderly
        Long-term health care
        Descriptive statistics
        Longitudinal method
        Research
        Data analysis software
        Confidence intervals
        Proportional hazards models
      sug:
        subj:
          Elder care
          Evaluation of human services programs
          Retrospective studies
          Dependency (Psychology)
          Japan
          Continuing Care Retirement Communities
          Population-based case control
          Frail elderly
          Long-term health care
          Descriptive statistics
          Longitudinal method
          Research
          Data analysis software
          Confidence intervals
          Proportional hazards models
      keyword:
        aged
        aging
        community
        copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society
        copyrightYear:2026
        frailty
        frailty check programme
        https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag161
        inLanguage:en
        internship and residency
        long-term care
        medical residencies
        older people
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42258776/
        volunteer-driven
        aged
        aging
        community
        copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society
        copyrightYear:2026
        frailty
        frailty check programme
        https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag161
        inLanguage:en
        internship and residency
        long-term care
        medical residencies
        older people
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42258776/
        volunteer-driven
      ab: Background Although volunteer-driven, community-based interventions to prevent long-term care (LTC) dependency have shown promise, long-term evidence of their effectiveness and economic impact remains scarce. We aimed to evaluate the association of a volunteer-driven frailty check (FC) programme with LTC certification and benefit expenditures. Methods We conducted a 10-year retrospective, population-based cohort study in a municipality in Japan. Of 59 812 residents aged ≥65 years (2015–2024), FC participants were matched 1:1 with non-participants separately within each year using propensity scores, and the yearly matched sets were pooled for analysis, yielding 2672 participants and 2672 matched controls. Outcomes were incident LTC certification and annual per-capita LTC expenditures, analysed using Cox proportional hazards and generalised linear mixed-effects models. Results Among 5344 matched individuals (mean age 73.5 ± 4.9 years), 16.8% of participants and 19.8% of controls received LTC certification [hazard ratio 0.85, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75–0.97; absolute risk reduction 3.0%; number needed to treat 33]. Annual per-capita LTC expenditures were consistently lower among participants, with the gap widening over time (cost ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.51–0.84), yielding cumulative savings of ~JPY443 000 per participant over 10 years. Exploratory analyses indicated slower growth in combined medical and LTC expenditures. Conclusion This programme was associated with lower LTC dependency and slower growth in combined medical and long-term care expenditures. Implemented in 106 municipalities in Japan, this volunteer-led, community-based model may offer a low-cost, scalable intervention to promote healthy ageing and sustainability in super-aged societies, with relevance for countries facing population ageing and fiscal constraints.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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