Symptom Profiles, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Clinical Blood Markers among Korean Community-Dwelling Older Adults Living with Chronic Conditions

Abstract

Older adults suffer from multiple symptoms, which negatively affects their health-related quality of life. The single-symptom management approach has been less than effective. The data of 2362 Korean community-dwelling older adults aged 70 and above were analyzed in the Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study (KFACS) study. A cluster analysis, correlation analysis, and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. We found three symptom clusters: high symptom burden (HSB, n = 1032); pain and fatigue group (PAF, n = 566); and the sleep deprivation group (SDP, n = 764). Participants in the HSB group are more likely to be of old age (OR = 1.1), be female (OR = 2.4), live in a rural area (OR = 1.4), have low physical activity (OR = 0.9), and have multiple chronic conditions (OR = 1.5). The clinical blood markers analysis showed a negative relationship among the physical health, free T4 (r = −0.083, p < 0.01) and insulin (r = −0.084, p < 0.01). The sex-specific blood markers analysis showed differences among three clusters. While free testosterone (male: r = 0.124, female: r = 0.110, p < 0.05) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) (male: r = 0.352 and female: r = 0.134, p < 0.05) were associated with physical health in the HSB group, only free testosterone was associated with mental health (male: r = −0.093, and female: r = −0.116, p < 0.05) in the SDP group. These findings suggest the potential role of the patient’s sex and sex hormones in symptoms of Korean community-dwelling older adults. Understanding the symptom profiles and impact of biopsychosocial factors may enhance precision symptom management.