Impact of physical frailty on disability in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 5; no. 9; p. e008462
• Main Authors: Makizako, Hyuma, Shimada, Hiroyuki, Doi, Takehiko, Tsutsumimoto, Kota, Suzuki, Takao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group LTD 02.09.2015; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Accidental Falls - statistics & numerical data; Activities of Daily Living; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Alzheimer's disease; Cardiovascular disease; Chronic Disease; Cognitive ability; Diabetes; Disabled Persons - statistics & numerical data; Family medical history; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Frail Elderly; Frailty; Genotype & phenotype; Geriatric Assessment - methods; Geriatric Medicine; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Hypertension; Japan - epidemiology; Male; Mental depression; Muscle Weakness; Older people; Osteoporosis; Parkinson's disease; Phenotype; Population; Prevalence; Prospective Studies; Questionnaires; Sex Distribution; Studies; Walking; Womens health; Japan; Disability; Slowness; Frailty
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008462

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between physical frailty and risk of disability, and to identify the component(s) of frailty with the most impact on disability in community-dwelling older adults.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingA Japanese community.Participants4341 older adults aged ≥65 living in the community participated in a baseline assessment from 2011 to 2012 and were followed for 2 years.Main outcome measuresCare-needs certification in the national long-term care insurance (LTCI) system of Japan, type of physical frailty (robust, prefrail, frail) and subitems (slowness, weakness, exhaustion, low activity, weight loss), adjusted for several potential confounders such as demographic characteristics, analysed with Kaplan-Meier survival curves for incidence of disability by frailty phenotype.ResultsDuring the 2-year follow-up period, 168 participants (3.9%) began using the LTCI system for incidence of disability. Participants classified as frail (HR 4.65, 95% CI 2.63 to 8.22) or prefrail (2.52, 1.56 to 4.07) at the baseline assessment had an increased risk of disability incidence compared with robust participants. Analyses for subitems of frailty showed that slowness (2.32, 1.62 to 3.33), weakness (1.90, 1.35 to 2.68) and weight loss (1.61, 1.13 to 2.31) were related to increased risk of disability incidence. In stratified analyses, participants who were classified as frail and who had lower cognitive function had the highest percentage (30.3%) of disability incidence during the 2 years after baseline assessment.ConclusionsPhysical frailty, even being prefrail, had a strong impact on the risk of future disability. Some components of frailty, such as slowness, weakness and weight loss, are strongly associated with incident disability in community-dwelling older adults.