Abstract
Background: Frailty in the elderly population is currently a frontier and focus in the field of health and aging. The goal of this study was to explore the frailty status among the elderly of different genders and its influence on the risk of death during 11 years.Methods: Frailty index (FI) was used to evaluate the frailty status in the elderly based on the baseline data conducted in 2009; and death as outcome variables collected in 2020 were analyzed. The difference of the frailty level and mortality of different genders was compared. Cox regression and Kaplan–Meier curves were applied to evaluate the influence on the risk of death and the 11-year survival of the elderly at different level of frailty, respectively.Results: Totally, 1,246 elderly people were recruited. The mortality in men (43.7%, 227/519) was statistically higher than that in women (34.3%, 249/727) (x2 = 11.546, P = 0.001). Deficits accumulated exponentially with age, and at all ages, women accumulated more deficits than do men on average (B = 0.030 vs. 0.028, t = 4.137, P = 0.023). For any given level of frailty, the mortality rate is higher in men than in women, and the difference in mortality between genders reached the peak when FI value was 0.26. Cox regression analysis showed that FI value had a greater impact on the risk of death in older men (HR = 1.171, 95%CI: 1.139~1.249)than that in older women (HR = 1.119, 95%CI: 1.039~1.137). Survival analysis showed that the median 11-year survival time in women was longer than that in men (95.26 vs. 89.52 months, Log rank = 9.249, P = 0.002). Kaplan–Meier curves showed that the survival rate decreased with the increase of frailty, and at the same level of frailty, survival time in older women was longer than that in older men, except for severe frailty (FI ≥ 0.5).Conclusion: The frailty status and its influence on mortality are different among the older people of different genders; therefore, specific interventions for frailty should be conducted in the elderly population of different genders, as well as of different degrees of frailty.
Highlights
The study on frailty in the elderly population is currently a frontier and focus in the field of health and aging
The elderly population in Beijing urban communities were included in this study, and the prospective analysis utilized the frailty index (FI) model to assess differences in frailty in the elderly population of different genders and the impact on mortality risk, so as to provide a basis for further specific intervention measures to decrease adverse health prognosis caused by frailty
It is noteworthy that the results of this study showed that women had a higher degree of frailty than men, the mortality rate of men is higher than women for any degree of frailty, with the greatest difference at the mild to moderate degrees of frailty (FI = 0.26)
Summary
The study on frailty in the elderly population is currently a frontier and focus in the field of health and aging. The degree of frailty in the elderly population has important predictive value for the risks of many adverse outcomes, such as disability, reduced activities of daily living, lengthening of hospitalization, and death events [5, 6]. There have been few studies on the FI model in the elderly population of different genders in Chinese communities or on the analysis of the impact of frailty on long-term mortality risk. The elderly population in Beijing urban communities were included in this study, and the prospective analysis utilized the FI model to assess differences in frailty in the elderly population of different genders and the impact on mortality risk, so as to provide a basis for further specific intervention measures to decrease adverse health prognosis caused by frailty. The goal of this study was to explore the frailty status among the elderly of different genders and its influence on the risk of death during 11 years
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
