Up-to-date knowledge of frailty

Abstract

Background: Frailty is a state in which the functional reserves of multiple organs in the body are reduced significantly, making an individual vulnerable to a variety of stressors. As a result, frail individuals are more likely to experience falls, disability, and even mortality. Frailty can be reversible and preventable in many cases with specific modalities, such as exercise, protein-calorie supplementation, vitamin D intake, and reducing polypharmacy. The frailty phenotype and frailty index are the most common methods used to diagnose frailty. In the United Kingdom, primary care physicians must use the electronic frailty index to identify frailty in all patients aged ≥65 years.Current Concepts: The Korean frailty and aging cohort study, a multicenter longitudinal cohort study taking place in Korea, has identified some important factors in the management of frailty. In the middle-old age group (70-79 years old), high-level physical activities were associated with lower incidence of frailty after 2 years, but no effect thereof was observed in the oldest-old group (80-84 years old). Physical activities associated with improvement from frailty after 2 years were high-level activities, but those associated with improvement from prefrailty were at least middle-level activities.Discussion and Conclusion: For the prevention and management of frailty, the age of participants and level of physical activity are important factors to determine the success of interventions. Protein intake of 1.5 g/kg/day is needed to improve not only muscle mass but also gait speed in prefrail or frail elderly patients, especially those with a risk of malnutrition, in a short-term period.