Social Position and Frailty

This study sought to determine (1) if measures of social position are associated with frailty; (2) if any observed association between social position and frailty is a threshold or gradient effect; and (3) if any observed association is independent of possible confounders. Data were drawn from a sam...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCanadian journal on aging Vol. 32; no. 3; pp. 250 - 259
Main Authors St. John, Philip D, Montgomery, Patrick R, Tyas, Suzanne L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Canada Cambridge University Press 01.09.2013
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Summary:This study sought to determine (1) if measures of social position are associated with frailty; (2) if any observed association between social position and frailty is a threshold or gradient effect; and (3) if any observed association is independent of possible confounders. Data were drawn from a sample of 1,751 community-dwelling adults, aged 65 and older, living in the Canadian province of Manitoba in 1991. Education, self-reported income adequacy, and self-reported income satisfaction were used as measures of social position. Frailty was graded based on functional loss, cognition, and urinary incontinence. Multivariate regression analyses revealed, after adjusting for possible confounding factors, that all measures of social position were strongly associated with frailty in a gradient, rather than a threshold, manner. We conclude that social gradients for frailty are present in older adults, although a causal mechanism is not yet clear.
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ISSN:0714-9808
1710-1107
DOI:10.1017/S0714980813000329