The Impact of Socioeconomic Factors and Geriatric Syndromes on Frailty among Elderly People Receiving Home-Based Healthcare: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate frailty and its relationship with geriatric syndromes in the context of socioeconomic variables. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, elderly people aged 65 years old and over who received homecare in the reference region of Crete, Greece, were enrolled. Geriatric syndromes such as frailty, dementia, and depression were evaluated using the SHARE-Frailty Index (SHARE-Fi), the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), respectively. Level of education, annual individual income, disability in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and homebound status were also assessed as ‘socioeconomic factors.’ Results: The mean age of 301 participants was 78.45 (±7.87) years old. A proportion of 38.5% was identified as frail. A multiple logistic regression model revealed that elderly people with cognitive dysfunction were more likely to be frail (OR = 1.65; 95% CI: 0.55–4.98, p = 0.469) compared to those with normal cognition, but this association was not significant. Although elderly people with mild depression were significantly more likely to be frail (OR = 2.62; CI: 1.33–5.17, p = 0.005) compared to those with normal depression, the association for elderly people with severe depression (OR = 2.05, CI: 0.80–5.24, p = 0.134) was not significant. Additionally, comorbidity (OR = 1.06, CI: 0.49–2.27, p = 0.876) was not associated with frailty, suggesting that comorbidity is not a risk factor for frailty. In addition, patients with mild depression were significantly more likely to report frailty (OR = 2.62, CI:1.33–5.17, p = 0.005) compared to those with normal depression, whereas elders with an annual individual income (>EUR 4500) were less likely to be frail (OR = 0.45, CI: 0.25–0.83, p = 0.011) compared to those with <EUR 4500 per year. Conclusions: Our data analysis shows that higher annual individual income and mild depression were independently associated with frailty, suggesting that a lower poverty threshold and mild depression are risk factors for frailty.

Pagyvenusių žmonių patiriamas stresas ir jo pasekmės psichinei sveikatai

“…Pagyvenusių pacientų išgyvenamos emocijos. Pagyvenusio amžiaus žmonėms būdinga lėtinės ligos, polipatologija, specifiniai geriatriniai sindromai, problemų kompleksiškumas, todėl svarbus holistinis požiūris į esamas problemas, ilgalaikė priežiūra ir slauga [2]. Pagyvenusio amžiaus žmonės dažniau naudojasi sveikatos priežiūros įstaigų paslaugomis.…”

Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older People

“…Tasioudi et al [ 14 ] identified the effect of frailty and geriatric syndromes, including comorbidities, on the quality of life of Greek people aged 65 years or older receiving home care. A second Greek study was conducted by Aravantinou-Karlatou et al [ 15 ]. They evaluated frailty and its association with geriatric syndromes (cognitive function, depression, and comorbidities) in the context of socioeconomic variables (e.g., education and annual income).…”