[Association between frailty awareness and frailty among community-dwelling older adults]

This study investigated the association between frailty awareness-defined as understanding the term "frailty" and its meaning-and actual frailty status as well as oral frailty among community-dwelling older adults.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among adults ≥65 years old residing in the community. Data were collected via a postal survey assessing frailty awareness, status (using a health assessment questionnaire for the national screening program for older adults in Japan), and oral frailty (using the Oral Frail Index-8). Frailty awareness was divided into three categories: Awareness I (aware of both the term and its meaning), Awareness II (aware of the term only), and Awareness III (unaware of both). Associations between frailty awareness and frailty outcomes were analyzed using the chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression.

A total of 1,758 respondents (age 77.0±6.9 years old) were included. The prevalence of frailty was 32.6%, while that of oral frailty was 55.5%. Among the participants, 38.4% were classified as Awareness I, 18.3% as Awareness II, and 43.3% as Awareness III, respectively. Lower frailty awareness was significantly associated with higher rates of frailty and oral frailty (p < 0.001). In logistic regression analyses, compared with Awareness I, the odds ratios (ORs) for frailty were 1.57 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-2.13, p = 0.004) for Awareness II and 2.06 (95% CI, 1.60-2.64, p < 0.001) for Awareness III. Compared with Awareness I, the ORs for oral frailty were 1.58 (95% CI, 1.20-2.08, p = 0.001) for Awareness II and 1.91 (95% CI, 1.53-2.40, p < 0.001) for Awareness III.

Lower frailty awareness was associated with an increased likelihood of both frailty and oral frailty among community-dwelling older adults, suggesting that improving frailty knowledge may contribute to effective frailty prevention and management.