Frailty syndrome and socioeconomic and health characteristics among older adults

• Published in: Colombia medica (Cali, Colombia) Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 126 - 131
• Main Authors: Dos Santos Tavares, Darlene Mara, de Freitas Corrêa, Thais Aline, Dias, Flavia Aparecida, Dos Santos Ferreira, Pollyana Cristina, Sousa Pegorari, Maycon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colombia Universidad del Valle 30.09.2017
• Subjects: Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Brazil - epidemiology; Comorbidity; Female; Frailty - epidemiology; Health Status; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Original; Prevalence; Regression Analysis; Sex Distribution; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Syndrome; health status; socioeconomic factors; frail elderly; aging; health services for the aged; activities of daily living
• ISSN: 0120-8322; 1657-9534
• DOI: 10.25100/cm.v48i3.1978

To investigate the association of frailty syndrome with socioeconomic and health variables among older adults. This is a cross-sectional, observational and analytical household research conducted with a sample of 1,609 urban elderly. We used: semi-structured questionnaire, scales (Katz, Lawton and shortened version of Geriatric Depression Scale) and Fragility Phenotype proposed by Fried. Descriptive analysis was performed along with a bivariate and multinomial logistic regression model ( <0.05). The prevalence of pre-frailty condition was 52.0% and the fragility corresponded to 13.6%. Pre-frailty and frailty associated factors were, respectively: age range between 70-79 years and ≥80 years; one to four morbidities and five or more morbidities categories; functional disability for basic and instrumental activities of daily life and depression indicative; whilst lack of a companion or income and female gender were only associated to pre-frailty. The conditions of pre-frailty and frailty levels were elevated with negative effects on the health of the elderly.