Research progress on intrinsic capacity in older adults / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

In order to cope with increasingly severe global population aging, WHO defines "healthy ageing" as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability required for healthy living of the elderly.Functional ability is related to the interaction between intrinsic capacity(IC)and the environment.IC refers to the sum of all the physical and mental abilities of the individual.Unlike frailty and disability, IC focuses on the functional aspects of the elderly, longitudinally tracking a person's life, rather than on health conditions of the individual at a certain time.Evaluation of IC, including cognitive function, psychological status, sensory function, vitality and locomotor function, is expected to become crucial to predict outcomes and risks of care dependence in the elderly.Starting from screening for IC declines of the elderly in the community, integrated care is formulated taking older people and their caregivers into consideration to improve the quality of life of the elderly to the greatest extent and reduce the social burden.