Abstract
Objective
to verify the association between frailty markers and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in elderly people in Primary Health Care.
Method
cross-sectional research, carried out with 356 elderly people registered in family health units in the Northeast of Brazil. The collection instruments used were the Index of Clinical-Functional Vulnerability and another of socioeconomic and health profile. The data were analyzed by inferential statistics, using the chi-square test, with a significance level of 0.05.
Results
the mean age was 72.85 years (±8.965); 63.8% were female, 39% were at risk of frailty and 22.5% were frail. There was an association between frailty, gender, age group, marital status, education, income, presence of heart disease and hypertension.
Conclusions and implications for practice
the markers of frailty in the elderly showed an association between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, indicating the need for early screening at the primary health care level.
Keywords:
Health of the Elderly; Frailty. Primary Health Care; Health Vulnerability; Quality of Life