Prevalence of Frailty and its Association with Cognitive Status and Functional Fitness among Ambulating Older Adults Residing in Institutions within West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 23; p. 4716
• Main Authors: Murukesu, Resshaya Roobini, Singh, Devinder Kaur Ajit, Subramaniam, Ponnusamy, Tan, Xee Vern, Mohamd Izhar, Ibtisam Arfah, Ponvel, Pavapriya, Mohd Rasdi, Hanif Farhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 26.11.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Adults; Age; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Arthritis; Body weight loss; Cardiovascular diseases; Chronic illnesses; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - epidemiology; Coronary artery disease; Data collection; Dementia; Diabetes mellitus; Epidemiology; Exercise; Exhaustion; Female; Frail Elderly; Frailty; Gait; Geriatric Assessment; Geriatrics; Grip strength; Heart diseases; Homes for the Aged; Humans; Hypercholesterolemia; Hypertension; Hypertension - epidemiology; Institutionalization; Logistic Models; Malaysia - epidemiology; Male; Mental Status and Dementia Tests; Middle Aged; Mobility Limitation; Muscle strength; Nursing Homes; Older people; Phenotypes; Physical activity; Physical Fitness; Physical Functional Performance; Population; Postural Balance; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Sociodemographics; Malaysia; frailty; functional fitness; aging; cognition; institutionalisation
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16234716

There is limited information about the association between frailty, cognitive status and functional fitness in older adults living in institutions. We aimed to determine the prevalence of frailty and its association with cognitive status and functional fitness among pre-frail and frail Malaysian older adults residing in institutions on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. This study included 302 ambulating Malaysian institutionalised older adults. Frailty was identified using Fried's frailty criteria. Cognitive status was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination. Functional fitness was assessed using the Senior Fitness test. The association between frailty groups, cognitive status and functional fitness was analysed using binary logistic regression. Prevalence of frailty, prefrailty and robustness in the older adults was 56.6%, 40.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Frailty was found to be associated with hypertension (OR 2.15, 95% CI: 1.11-4.16, = 0.024), lower cognitive status (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination) (OR 0.98, 95% C.I: 0.96-0.99, = 0.038), and lower dynamic balance and mobility (Timed Up and Go test) (OR 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01-1.16, = 0.024). Frailty is highly prevalent among Malaysian institutionalised older adults. Hypertension, cognitive impairment and lower dynamic balance and mobility were found to be risk factors of frailty. Screening of frailty and its associated factors should be prioritized among institutionalised older adults in view of early prevention and rehabilitation.