Prevalence of Frailty Indicators and Association with Socioeconomic Status in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in a Swiss Region with Universal Health Insurance Coverage: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Frailty prevalence in older adults has been reported but is largely unknown in middle-aged adults. We determined the prevalence of frailty indicators among middle-aged and older adults from a general Swiss population characterized by universal health insurance coverage and assessed the determinants of frailty with a special focus on socioeconomic status. Participants aged 50 and more from the population-based 2006–2010 Bus Santé study were included (N = 2,930). Four frailty indicators (weakness, shrinking, exhaustion, and low activity) were measured according to standard definitions. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine associations. Overall, 63.5%, 28.7%, and 7.8% participants presented no frailty indicators, one frailty indicator, and two or more frailty indicators, respectively. Among middle-aged participants (50–65 years), 75.1%, 22.2%, and 2.7% presented 0, 1, and 2 or more frailty indicators. The number of frailty indicators was positively associated with age, hypertension, and current smoking and negatively associated with male gender, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and serum total cholesterol level. Lower income level but not education was associated with higher number of frailty indicators. Frailty indicators are frequently encountered in both older and middle-aged adults from the Swiss general population. Despite universal health insurance coverage, household income is independently associated with frailty.

Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and the frailty syndrome in US older adults

“…In line with this finding, results from the Hallym Aging Study indicated that smoking was associated with higher frequency of decreased grip strength in men aged ≥65 years (Quan et al 2013). In cross-sectional analyses, current smoking (Guessous et al 2014) and consumption of ≥1 pack/day of cigarettes for ≥20 years (Hubbard et al 2009) have been linked with an increased prevalence of frailty indicators, while some prospective cohort studies have shown that baseline smoking status is a strong predictor of frailty (Wang et al 2013;Ottenbacher et al 2009;Woods et al 2005) and disability (Rist et al 2014;Kim et al 2013a;Ropponen et al 2013;Wong et al 2015).…”

The prevalence of frailty and related factors in community-dwelling Turkish elderly according to modified Fried Frailty Index and FRAIL scales

“…Other than the above-mentioned characteristics, age is found as an independently variable which significantly increases the prevalence of frailty [22,23]. The cause of this finding may be related with the increases in sarcopenia prevalence especially in older age [24].…”

Associations between frailty syndrome and sociodemographic characteristics in long-lived individuals of a community

“…In developing countries, higher values of frailty in elderly 6 have been identified. In investigations carried out in Mexico 7 and Peru 8 , researchers have demonstrated frailty associated with sociodemographic variables, including female gender 7 and age 7 - 8 .…”