Frailty progress and related factors in the elderly living in community: a prospective study / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To investigate frailty progress status and related factors in the elderly living in communities. Methods: A cohort of elderly people aged 65 and over in Pingyi community of Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, was established. Face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted by trained interviewers. The frailty status, cognitive function, nutrition status and other functions of the subjects surveyed were evaluated at baseline survey and during follow-up. The socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects surveyed were assessed at baseline survey. Binary logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with frailty progress. Results: A total of 653 elderly people were surveyed in January 2014, and 507 elderly people were followed up while 146 elderly people terminated further follow-up in January 2017. The prevalence rates of frailty and pre-frailty at baseline survey were 11.2% (n=57) and 26.2% (n=133), respectively. After 3 years, 205 subjects (40.4%) surveyed experienced frailty progress, 276 (54.5%) remained to be in frailty state at baseline survey, and 26 (5.1%) had improvement. Disability (OR=8.27, 95%CI: 1.62-42.26), visual problem (OR=2.02, 95%CI: 1.27-3.22), cognitive impairment (OR=1.94, 95%CI: 1.08-3.48), poor self-rated health (OR=1.89, 95%CI: 1.07-3.31), chronic pain (OR=1.57, 95%CI: 1.03-2.40) and older age (OR=1.12, 95%CI: 1.08-1.17) were independently associated with the progress of frailty. In contract, overweight was a protective factor (OR=0.54, 95%CI: 0.34-0.85). Conclusions: Frailty is a dynamic syndrome affected by several socio-demographic factors and geriatric factors. The results of the study can be used in the prevention of frailty progress in the elderly in communities.

Effect of frailty syndrome on falls in Chinese elderly diabetics in the communities: a prospective cohort study / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective: To explore the relationship between frailty syndrome and falls in the elderly diabetics, in the communities. Methods: A three-year cohort study involving 653 community-dwelling adults who were over 65 years of age and participated in the Survey of Disease, Psychological and Social Needs in Dujiangyan Pingyi Community. Diabetic patients would include those who self-reported as having histories of diabetes or on anti-hyperglycemic therapies. Frailty, functional and other geriatric status were assessed respectively. Falls was defined as having had multiple falls or at least one event but with injury. Results: The highest prevalence of falls was found in the group of frail diabetic group (62.5%). Data showed that baseline frailty was associated with falls in both diabetic and non-diabetic groups but the odds ratio in the diabetic group was higher than that of the non-diabetic group (OR=3.87, 95%CI: 1.45-10.28 vs. OR=6.68, 95%CI: 1.14-38.99). Conclusion: Frailty could be used as a strong clinical predictor to prevent falls, for the elderly diabetic Chinese living in the communities.