Abstract
Background: The rapid increase in the elderly population in Korea is associated with an expanded burden of health problems. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between frailty and physical disability among Koreans using the frailty index, which was developed to assess health conditions in elderly people. Methods: We included 503 elderly people from the Namgaram-II cohort. We used the Korean version of the Kaigo-Yobo checklist as our frailty assessment tool. For the disability assessment tool, we used the Korean version of the 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS-12). We fit multiple linear regression models for men and women for each section. Our models also included variables for musculoskeletal diseases that are known to be associated with frailty, such as sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and radiologic knee osteoarthritis. Results: After correcting for social demographic characteristics, blood profiles, high blood pressure, and diabetes, the Kaigo-Yobo results showed a significant difference in frailty between men (1.53 ± 0.74) and women (2.60 ± 0.77), and WHODAS-12 also showed a significant difference between men (6.59 ± 5.08) and women (15.99 ± 5.70). After correcting for social demographic characteristics, blood profiles, high blood pressure, and diabetes, Kaigo-Yobo and WHODAS-12 were significantly associated with each other among both men (β = 2.667) and women (β = 3.200) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The study results show an association between frailty and disability among elderly people in rural areas. Therefore, prevention should occur at the pre-frailty stage of a person’s life to prevent further disability. Also, disability welfare programs should be provided to elderly people who present with frailty.
Highlights
In 2000, Korea officially became an aging population as the ratio of people who were 65 years or older exceeded 7% of the total population; in 2017, this proportion reached 14.2%
We conducted a test to check if there was a difference in the average Kaigo-Yobo and WHODAS II scores between men and women, for which we considered numerous demographic variables, high blood pressure and diabetes, and pre- and post-correction for sarcopenia, osteoporosis, Radiologic knee osteoarthritis (RKOA), and blood tests (hemoglobin, albumin, cholesterol, 25(OH)VitD)
Were currently married, and 169 (33.6%) replied that they were satisfied with their economic status
Summary
In 2000, Korea officially became an aging population as the ratio of people who were 65 years or older exceeded 7% of the total population; in 2017, this proportion reached 14.2%. Frailty increases weaknesses and decreases the ability to sustain consistency, which results in clinical syndromes like weight loss, fatigue/exhaustion, weakness, low physical activity, mobility impairment, and declining physical performance. These syndromes lead to frequent falls and hospital visits, which lead to disability and death [2,3]. After correcting for social demographic characteristics, blood profiles, high blood pressure, and diabetes, Kaigo-Yobo and WHODAS-12 were significantly associated with each other among both men (β = 2.667) and women (β = 3.200)
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