Frailty in the elderly: prevalence and associated factors

to know the prevalence and factors associated with frailty in elderly assisted by the Centro Mais Vida de Referência em Assistência à Saúde do Idoso (Mais Vida Health Reference Center for the Elderly) in the North of Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Method:

cross-sectional study, with sampling by convenience. Data collection occurred in 2015. Demographic and socioeconomic variables, morbidities, use of health services and the score of the Edmonton Frail Scale were analyzed. The adjusted prevalence ratios were obtained by multiple analysis of Poisson regression with robust variance.

Results:

360 elderly aged 65 or older were evaluated. Frailty prevalence was 47.2%. The variables associated with frailty were the following: advanced age elderly, who live without a partner, have a caregiver, present depressive symptoms, osteoarticular disease, as well as history of hospitalization and falls in the last twelve months.

Conclusion:

knowledge of factors associated with frailty allows development of health actions aimed at the elderly.

Descriptors:
Elderly; Frail elderly; Health Vulnerability; Health of the Elderly; Public Health

Independent variables	Frailty
	No		Yes		PR	95% CI	p value
	n	%	n	%	PR	95% CI	p value
Sex
Female	144	51.2	137	48.8	1
Male	46	58.2	33	41.8	1.16	0.87-1.55	0.27
Age group
65-79	159	58.7	112	41.3	1
≥ 80	31	34.8	58	65.2	1.57	1.28-1.94	0.00
Self-reported skin color
White	67	49.6	68	50.4	1
Others	123	54.7	102	45.3	0.90	0.72-1.12	0.35
Marital status
With a mate	89	61.0	57	39.0	1
No mate	101	47.2	113	52.8	1.35	1.06-1.71	0.01
Family arrangement
Does not live alone	151	50.5	148	49.5	1
Does not live alone	39	63.9	22	36.1	0.72	0.51-1.03	0.05
Educational level
> 4 years	33	64.7	18	35.3	1
0–4 years	157	50.8	152	49.2	1.39	0.94-2.05	0.06
Knows how to read
No	120	56.9	91	43.1	1
Yes	70	47.0	79	53.0	1.22	0.99-2.26	0.06
Own income
Yes	184	52.4	167	47.6	1
No	6	66.7	3	33.3	0.70	0.27-1.77	0.39
Household income
Higher than R$ 880.00	126	51.4	119	48.6	1
Up to R$880.00	64	55.7	51	44.3	0.91	0.71-1.16	0.45

Independent variables	Frailty
	No		Yes		PR	95% CI	p value
	n	%	n	%	PR	95% CI	p value
Depression
No	150	66.4	75	33.6	1
Yes	40	29.9	94	70.1	2.08	1.68-2.58	0.00
Arterial hypertension
No	45	54.2	38	45.8	1
Yes	145	52.3	132	47.7	1.06	0.82-1.37	0.63
Diabetes mellitus
No	153	53.5	133	46.5	1
Yes	37	50.0	37	50.0	1.13	0.87-1.45	0.35
Heart disease
No	154	54.8	127	45.2	1
Yes	36	45.6	43	54.4	1.20	0.94-1.53	0.14
Osteoarticular disease
No	112	55.4	90	44.6	1
Yes	78	49.4	80	50.6	1.13	0.91-1.41	0.20
Osteoporosis
No	64	52.0	59	48.0	1
Yes	126	53.2	111	46.9	1.02	0.81-1.28	0.83
Cerebrovascular accident
No	179	55.6	143	44.4	1
Yes	11	28.9	27	71.1	1.60	1.26-2.02	0.00
Has a caregiver
No	156	63.9	88	36.1	1
Yes	34	29.3	82	70.7	1.96	1.59-2.40	0.00
Fall in the past twelve months
Não	99	60.4	65	39.6	1
Sim	91	46.4	105	53.6	1.35	1.07-1.70	0.00
Medical appointment in the past twelve months
No	13	6.2	40	13.3	1
Yes	198	93.8	260	86.7	1.38	0.27-6.86	0.66
Hospitalization in the past year
No	164	57.7	120	42.3	1
Yes	26	34.2	50	65.8	1.55	1.26-1.92	0.00

Independent variables	PR	95% CI	p value
Age
65-79	1
80 years old or older	1.24	1.02-1.51	0.02
Marital status
With a mate (married/consensual marriage)	1
No mate	1.27	1.02-1.58	0.02
Has a caregiver
No	1
Yes	1.58	1.30-1.92	0.00
Depressive symptoms
No	1
Yes	2.02	1.65-2.47	0.00
Osteoarticular disease
No	1
Yes	1.21	1.00-1.46	0.04
Falls in the past twelve months
No	1
Yes	1.25	1.02-1.54	0.02
Hospitalization in the past twelve months
No	1
Yes	1.65	1.34-2.02	0.00

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

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[1] CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Jair Almeida Carneiro. Email: jairjota@yahoo.com.br