Associations between frailty status, work-related accidents and efforts for safe work among older workers in Tokyo: A...

Working in old age not only solves the labor shortage in Japan, but also benefits the health of the older workers; however, work-related accidents are a major concern. Functional impairment is an important factor in such accidents. The first aim was to examine the association between frailty status and work-related accidents, and the second aim was to identify those who utilize the opportunity to learn about safe work.

The participants were 7265 members of the Silver Human Resource Center in Tokyo, engaged in non-regular and indeterminate paid work. The frailty status (robust, pre-frail and frail) was assessed using the frailty screening index. We obtained data on self-reported work-related accidents that occurred in the past year, and the experience of participation in workshops and reading brochures for safe work. Modified Poisson regression analysis was carried out to calculate the prevalence ratio.

The prevalence of robust, pre-frailty and frailty were 26.3%, 63.3% and 10.4%, respectively. The percentage of participants who reported work-related accidents was 9.4%. Relative to robust participants, pre-frail and frail participants showed 1.57-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.28-1.93) and 2.31-fold (95% CI 1.79-2.98) higher prevalence ratios of work-related accidents, respectively. The prevalence ratio in pre-frail and frail participants were 1.08 (95% CI 1.04-1.11) and 1.14 (95% CI 1.09-1.20), respectively, for non-participation in workshops, and 1.17 (95% CI 1.06-1.29) and 1.39 (95% CI 1.20-1.61), respectively, for not reading brochures.

These findings suggest the importance of support for older workers with functional impairment, as well as those without to continue to work safely. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2023; 23: 234-238.