Prevalence of the frailty and related factors in Iranian elderly, Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran

Abstract

Objective. This study aimed to determine frailty prevalence and its related factors in the elderly.Methods. The cross-sectional study was performed on 540 elderly using a randomized multistage cluster sampling in Khuzestan Province, Iran, in 2019. The data collection tools included demographic information, Rockwood’s Frailty Index of Accumulated Deficits, Social Support Appraisals Scale, and Geriatric Depression Scale. Data were analyzed by the Pearson correlation coefficient and Chi-square tests.Results. In this study, 56% of the subjects were women, and 44% were men. The subjects mean age was 72.61 ± 88.72 years. In terms of the frailty prevalence, 14.3, 25.7, and 60% were frail, pre-frail, and non-frail, respectively. The bivariate analysis of the findings showed that frailty was more among those who were woman, older, less educated, without social support, depressed, lonely, single, taking more medication, with a history of hospitalization and malnutrition, and lack of social participation. The frailty rate was significantly lower among men than women. Younger people were less frail. Elderly taking more than five pills had lower frailty levels than elderly people taking lower than five pills. Participants taking more than five pills also had a lower hospitalization history than the elderly with a less frail history, and the depressed elderly were less frail than undepressed elderly. Participants with more social support had lower.Conclusions. In summary, the direct impact of demographic, social, and psychological factors on frailty syndrome is important, so more specialized studies in this area are necessary.