Prevalence and Potential Predictors of Frailty among Community-Dwelling Older Persons in Northern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Payom Thinuan,Penprapa Siviroj,Thaworn Lorga,Peerasak Lerttrakarnnon

doi:10.3390/ijerph17114077

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of frailty among Thai older persons. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of 1806 older persons aged 60 years or older. Frailty was assessed by Fried’s frailty phenotypes, which consists of five criteria, namely, unintended weight loss, exhaustion, slow walking, weak handgrip and decreased physical activity. Older people who met 3 in 5, 1–2 in 5, and none of the criteria were considered frail, pre-frail and non-frail respectively. The prevalence was calculated and multinomial logistic regression was performed. Prevalence rates of frailty, pre-frailty and non-frailty were 13.9% (95% CI 9.9 to 18.8), 50.9% (95% CI 47.5 to 54.1) and 35.1% (95% CI 31.5 to 39.9), respectively. Increasing age, lower education, having no spouse, poorer health perception, increasing number of comorbidities, osteoarthritis and smaller mid-arm circumference increased the risk of frailty (p < 0.001). The prevalence of geriatric frailty syndrome in this study was much higher than that of developed countries but was lower than that of less developed countries. Factors associated with frailty reflect common characteristics of disadvantaged older persons in Thailand.

Highlights

Frailty is a commonly recognized geriatric syndrome in clinical practice and one of the challenges for healthcare professionals who care for older people
This study presented the results of multinomial logistic regression to identify the risk factors associated with frailty status
The present study identified a very similar prevalence rate to previously reported in two provinces of northern Thailand, which was a 15.0% frailty prevalence [10]

Summary

Introduction

Frailty is a commonly recognized geriatric syndrome in clinical practice and one of the challenges for healthcare professionals who care for older people. Most studies have examined risk factors of frailty in community-dwelling older persons. With regard to the screening tools, Fried’s frailty phenotypes is a commonly used tool as it addresses physical characteristics of frailty, and is an appropriate assessment tool for frailty in the elderly [6,7,8].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion