Analysis of the frailty status and its related factors among elderly adults of urban community in Beijing / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To evaluate the frailty status, and to explore its related factors among the community-dwelling elderly people in Beijing, so as to provide scientific basis for taking corresponding measures to delay the frail process of the elderly.Methods:From November 2015 to January 2016, a cross-sectional study was performed among elderly adults of Longtan Community in Dongcheng District, Beijing.Persons aged 60 years and over were selected using a stratified cluster sampling method, and the geriatric frailty-related information was collected through face-to-face household interview.The frailty index(FI)was used to evaluate the frailty status.Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to explore influencing factors on FI value among the elderly.Results:Of the 1 557 interviewees, the median(quartile)value of FI was 0.09(0.08); and women had a higher FI median value than men[0.10(0.08) vs.0.08(0.07)]( Z=5.376, P=0.000). The FI value increased with age( H=329.698, P=0.000). In addition, multivariate linear regression analysis showed that female, older age, disability, being hospitalized in the previous year, being hospitalized during the past 3 years, being unsatisfied to living conditions had relatively higher FI value than the control group( β=0.082, 0.236, 0.336, 0.065, 0.089, 0.193, all P<0.05); and people with high education level, family harmony, a large number of friends who gave support and help, more frequency of participating in organization activities, regular physical examination, and routine exercise had lower FI value than the control group( β=-0.049, -0.052, -0.089, -0.047, -0.045, -0.219, all P<0.05). For FI value, physiological disability was the greatest influencing factor, followed by ageing and not often physical exercise. Conclusions:Similar to foreign studies, the FI method is an effective method to evaluate the frailty status and characteristics among older adults, and is also applicable for the elderly in China.Frailty in elderly people is related not also to intrinsic factors, such as physiology and disease, but also to interventionable factor, such as society, psychology and behavior.Therefore, comprehensive measures should be adopted to delay the process of frailty among the elderly.