By analyzing older adults’ patterns of sleep and exercise, data collected from wearable devices could help demonstrate a risk of frailty more than six years before its onset, a new study shows.

“Our study demonstrates that wearable devices could represent an important tool for long-term health monitoring in older adults,” study lead author Ruixue Cai said in a statement. “Frailty can reduce quality of life and detecting it early or predicting who is at risk could help us intervene to promote healthy aging.”

Although less ominous-sounding than Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, frailty is a major concern among senior living and care residents and can lead to a variety of complications, from weight loss to a heightened risk of more fatal diseases. 

Up to 90% of nursing home residents already are frail or are considered to be in a pre-frail state, according to one review.

The study on wearables was conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and involved more than 1,000 participants whose collective mean age was 81; the cycle of sleep and wakefulness the wearables are designed to track is defined in the research as “circadian rest-activity rhythm.” 

Maintaining healthy patterns of sleep — and better quality of sleep — is very important for older adults’ quality of life; some senior living and care operators have smart lighting systems installed to help address this concern. 

Due to the more nebulous nature of a frailty diagnosis, a recent study recommended a new frailty “score” that evaluates the condition along a spectrum, rather than suggesting an older adult either is “frail” or “not frail,” the McKnight’s Clinical Daily reported last month.

Seniors increasingly have joined the gamer ranks, especially since the COVID-10 pandemic. But although many may play games on their tablets or devices to reduce boredom just for fun, the activity also could be good for them.

Playing digital puzzle games could improve older adults’ memory ability to be on par with people in their 20s, when working memory abilities are at their peak, a new study shows. In addition to memory improvement, the seniors who played puzzle games were better able to avoid being frequently distracted. 

The information also could be useful for creating spaces and activities within long-term care as companies aim to develop toys and games for the senior market. 

The study, conducted by the University of York, involved collecting data on both younger and older adults; the latter group actually spent more time playing games than their younger counterparts, the study authors said.

Somewhat surprisingly, those findings are specific to puzzle games, whereas “strategy” games did not show similar memory improvements, the study authors stated. They speculated that finding could be because some strategy games aimed at older adults are designed to be easier. In addition, some “hybrid” games defied easy categorization, the researchers noted. 

Video gaming — anything played on a digital interface, from an old-school GameBoy console to a smartphone — has increased by 30% among older adults over the past six years, up to 52 million participants in 2022, the AARP has reported. 

Even before the pandemic, experts were touting the cognitive boosts to older adults that could come from gaming.

In fact, some nursing homes, such as Lorien Health Services’ facilities in Maryland, are experimenting with game shows; in this instance, a resident-tailored variation of “Wheel of Fortune,” McKnight’s Long-Term Care News reported earlier this year.