Frailty and its associates in community-dwelling older adults

While the literature contains several studies on the frailty assessed during hospitalization and/or outpatient settings and nursing homes, few studies have assessed frailty in community-dwelling older adults. We investigated the prevalence of frailty and associated factors among older adults in a sample of community-dwelling older adults.

We included community-dwelling older adults >60 years living in the Fatih District of the Istanbul Province. We conducted the study between November 2014 and May 2015. We collected the data such as age, sex, number of diseases and drugs, functional status, frailty, the presence of geriatric syndromes, common diseases, and quality-of-life assessment. Frailty was evaluated by the FRAIL scale.

A total of 204 adults (mean age: 75.4±7.3 years) were included, of whom 30.4% were robust, 42.6% were pre-frail, and 27% were frail. In multivariate analyses, associated factors of frailty were the number of drugs [odds ratio (OR)=1.240, p=0.036], the presence of cognitive impairment (OR=0.300, p=0.016), and falls (OR=1.984, p=0.048).

The present study established the prevalence of frailty in a large district in the largest metropolis in the country through a valid screening method. Our results suggest that clinicians should consider frailty evaluation in patients with multiple drug usage, cognitive impairment, and falls.