Predictors of Frailty in the Elderly Population: A Cross-Sectional Study at a Tertiary Care Center

Introduction Frailty is a multidimensional complex state that leads to increased chances of hospitalization and death in patients, especially in the elderly. Our study aimed to determine the factors associated with the development of frailty and their predictors in the elderly population. Methods The study was conducted in the Outpatient Department (OPD) of General Medicine at a tertiary care hospital in Rishikesh town of Dehradun district, Uttarakhand, India. It was a cross-sectional study design, conducted from January 2019 to July 2020. Data regarding sociodemographic factors, medical conditions, and laboratory investigations were collected on a predesigned performa. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were excluded from the study. It being a hospital-based study, participants with one frailty criteria were considered as non-frail and those with two or more than two as frail. Results We enrolled 149 patients in our study, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mean age of the patients was 67.50+/-6.74 years. A total of 87 (58.38%) participants had a frailty score > 2. Region of residence, body mass index (BMI), albumin, transferrin saturation, ferritin, vitamin D3, sodium, calcium, creatinine, urea, hemoglobin, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), number of prescribed drugs, substance dependence, power grip strength (PGS), slow walking time (SWT), low physical activity (LPA), self-reported exhaustion (SRE), unintentional weight loss (UWL), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were independent significant predictors of frailty. Conclusion Various modifiable factors were found to be predictors of frailty in adults. Timely identification and necessary interventions of these risk factors can provide valuable information for future prevention of the progression of frailty in the elderly.