Abstract
Frailty describes the aging-associated loss of physiological and psychological reserves, leading to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Many developed countries view frailty as a major priority for their health and social care systems. Less is known about frailty in less-developed countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of frailty in a sample of community-dwelling older people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This was a cross-sectional study of community-dwelling Emirati adults aged 55 years and older (n = 160) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Data were collected at interview by questionnaire and physical measurements. Frailty was defined according to the criteria of the Fried Frailty Index. The prevalence of frailty and its association with selected independent variables were assessed. The overall prevalence of frailty (95% CI) was 47% (39-55). Higher levels of frailty were seen in older age groups, women, those who were non-married, those with recent hospital admission, those with comorbid conditions, those on more than five medications, and those with lower forced expiratory volume and mini-mental state examination score. After adjustment in a multiple logistic regression model, only age and gender were found to be independently associated with frailty. A high prevalence of frailty was found among older Emiratis. Given that frailty is associated with adverse health outcomes and can be a means of identifying opportunities for intervention in clinical practice and health policy, further attention and consideration within professional and public health policy circles are needed.
Highlights
Not everyone can “age well,” persons with the same chronological age may vary according to health and functional status
Obtaining probability samples for population research in United Arab Emirates (UAE) is challenging [14] for a number of reasons not least being the lack of suitable sampling frames, so in this study participants were recruited from among communitydwelling older people living in different areas of the UAE who visited the primary healthcare facilities at Zayed Military Hospital, Abu Dhabi
We found a high prevalence (47%) of frailty in our sample of community-dwelling older Emirati citizens attending primary healthcare services
Summary
Not everyone can “age well,” persons with the same chronological age may vary according to health and functional status. There is no single accepted definition, “frailty” is used to describe the multidimensional syndrome in which there is a loss of physiological and psychological reserves leading to increased vulnerability to adverse health outcomes, such as falls, loss of mobility and independence, hospitalization, and death [1]. It is generally accepted that the prevalence of frailty increases with age and is higher in women and those with chronic disease. Frailty describes the aging-associated loss of physiological and psychological reserves, leading to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. Many developed countries view frailty as a major priority for their health and social care systems. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of frailty in a sample of community-dwelling older people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
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