Factors associated with frailty in a community-dwelling population of older adults

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To analyze if demographic and socioeconomic factors and factors related to health and health services are associated with frailty in community-dwelling older adults.METHODS This is a cross-sectional study with 339 older adults (60 years old or more) living in Juiz de Fora, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in 2015. A household survey was carried out and frailty was evaluated using the Edmonton Frail Scale. For the analysis of the factors associated with outcome, a theoretical model of determination was constructed with three hierarchical blocks: block 1 with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, block 2 with the health of the older adult (divided into three sub-levels: 2.1 self-reported health variables, 2.2 self-perceived health variables, and 2.3 geriatric syndromes), and block 3 with characteristics related to health services. The variables were adjusted in relation to each other within each block; those with significance level ≤ 0.20 were included in the Poisson regression model and adjusted to a higher level, considering a level of significance of 5%.RESULTS The prevalence of frailty among older adults was 35.7% (95%CI 30.7–40.9). Of the total, 42.2% did not present frailty; 22.1% were apparently vulnerable. Among the frail ones, 52.9% presented mild frailty, 32.2% moderate frailty, and 14.9% severe frailty. Frailty was associated with difficulty walking, need for an auxiliary device to walk, presence of caregiver, depressive disorders, and functional dependence to perform instrumental activities of daily living.CONCLUSIONS Frailty is frequent among the older population and it is associated with health variables of the three sub-levels that make up block 2 of the theoretical hierarchical model of determination: self-reported health variables, self-perceived health variables, and geriatric syndromes.

Syndrome of frailty and the use of assistive technologies in elderly

“…A similar result was found in a cross-sectional survey conducted at home with 339 elderly people from Minas Gerais, where the fragility assessed through the SAI was associated with difficulty walking (adjusted PR = 4.27; 95% CI 1.74-10.52), and need for mobility aids (adjusted PR = 9.42; 95% CI 2.06-43.16). 17 In the cross-sectional study conducted with 144 community-dwelling elderly in Ribeirão Preto, the use of wheelchair (p = 0.0014), cane (p = 0.0026) and walker (p = 0, 0386) were significantly associated with frailty. 20 The use of assistive technologies is understood as a factor directly related to the physical dimension of the syndrome.…”

“…Regarding the general characterization of the sample, the findings are similar to the results of research on the theme of frailty syndrome in the elderly, in the community or in outpatient care. 16,17,18 Overall, the use of cane, crutch and walker assistive technologies was poorly referenced by respondents. Similar results were presented in the cross-sectional investigation conducted with 203 elderly users of basic health units which found that 5.4% of participants made use of these devices.…”

Modos de pensar dos profissionais do Programa Academia da Saúde sobre saúde e doença e suas implicações nas ações de promoção de saúde

“…O processo de envelhecimento traz consigo, de fato, redução e comprometimento de vários aspectos biopsicossociais e a AF se relaciona de forma positiva na prevenção e redução destes (CRUZ et al, 2017;CORDEIRO et al, 2014). Estudo com um grupo de idosos identificou que o significado de envelhecimento estava fortemente relacionado à limitação e doença, condições consideradas negativas (FERREIRA et.…”

Response to the article: Prevalence of and factors associated with frailty in elderly users of the Family Health Strategy

“…This method was used as it encompasses the three spheres that make up the syndrome -the physical, psychological and social states 3 . At the same time, it should be noted that some studies used other methods that also encompass these three spheres of the syndrome, such as the Edmonton Frailty Scale, and did not find such high frailty rates 4 .…”