OBJECTIVES: To describe the accumulation of aging-associated health disorders using a cumulative measure known as a frailty index (FI) and to evaluate its ability to differentiate long- and short-life phenotypes as well as the FI's connection to aging-associated processes in older people. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. SETTING: The National Long-Term Care Survey (NLTCS) data that assessed health and functioning of U.S. older individuals (> or =65) in 1982, 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1999 were analyzed. The NLTCS sample in each survey represents a mixture of longitudinal and cross-sectional components. PARTICIPANTS: Approximately 5,000 individuals in each survey. MEASUREMENTS: A cumulative index of health and well-being deficiencies (disabilities, signs, diseases) was calculated as a count of deficits observed in an individual divided by the total number of all considered deficits. RESULTS: Men and women who died before the age of 75 and those who died after the age of 85 exhibited remarkably similar FI frequency patterns despite the 10-year age difference between age profiles in these samples. Long life is consistently characterized in longitudinal analyses by lower FIs. FI dynamics are found to be strongly sex sensitive. CONCLUSION: The FI appears to be a sensitive age-independent indicator of sex-specific physiological decline in aging individuals and a sex-specific discriminator of survival chances. The FI is a promising characteristic suitable for improving sex-sensitive forecasts of risks of adverse health outcomes in older people.
OBJECTIVES: To describe the accumulation of aging-associated health disorders using a cumulative measure known as a frailty index (FI) and to evaluate its ability to differentiate long- and short-life phenotypes as well as the FI's connection to aging-associated processes in older people. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. SETTING: The National Long-Term Care Survey (NLTCS) data that assessed health and functioning of U.S. older individuals (> or =65) in 1982, 1984, 1989, 1994, and 1999 were analyzed. The NLTCS sample in each survey represents a mixture of longitudinal and cross-sectional components. PARTICIPANTS: Approximately 5,000 individuals in each survey. MEASUREMENTS: A cumulative index of health and well-being deficiencies (disabilities, signs, diseases) was calculated as a count of deficits observed in an individual divided by the total number of all considered deficits. RESULTS:Men and women who died before the age of 75 and those who died after the age of 85 exhibited remarkably similar FI frequency patterns despite the 10-year age difference between age profiles in these samples. Long life is consistently characterized in longitudinal analyses by lower FIs. FI dynamics are found to be strongly sex sensitive. CONCLUSION: The FI appears to be a sensitive age-independent indicator of sex-specific physiological decline in aging individuals and a sex-specific discriminator of survival chances. The FI is a promising characteristic suitable for improving sex-sensitive forecasts of risks of adverse health outcomes in older people.
Authors: Arnold Mitnitski; Xiaowei Song; Ingmar Skoog; G A Broe; Jafna L Cox; Eva Grunfeld; Kenneth Rockwood Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2005-12 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: L P Fried; C M Tangen; J Walston; A B Newman; C Hirsch; J Gottdiener; T Seeman; R Tracy; W J Kop; G Burke; M A McBurnie Journal: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci Date: 2001-03 Impact factor: 6.053
Authors: Bradley J Willcox; Qimei He; Randi Chen; Katsuhiko Yano; Kamal H Masaki; John S Grove; Timothy A Donlon; D Craig Willcox; J David Curb Journal: JAMA Date: 2006-11-15 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Alexander Kulminski; Svetlana V Ukraintseva; Igor Akushevich; Konstantin G Arbeev; Kenneth Land; Anatoli I Yashin Journal: Exp Gerontol Date: 2007-05-29 Impact factor: 4.032
Authors: Anatoli I Yashin; Konstantin G Arbeev; Alexander Kulminski; Igor Akushevich; Lucy Akushevich; Svetlana V Ukraintseva Journal: Mech Ageing Dev Date: 2008-02-01 Impact factor: 5.432
Authors: Alberto Pilotto; Luigi Ferrucci; Marilisa Franceschi; Luigi P D'Ambrosio; Carlo Scarcelli; Leandro Cascavilla; Francesco Paris; Giuliana Placentino; Davide Seripa; Bruno Dallapiccola; Gioacchino Leandro Journal: Rejuvenation Res Date: 2008-02 Impact factor: 4.663
Authors: Alexander M Kulminski; Konstantin G Arbeev; Svetlana V Ukraintseva; Irina V Culminskaya; Kenneth Land; Anatoli I Yashin Journal: Ann Epidemiol Date: 2008-09 Impact factor: 3.797
Authors: José Juan García-González; Carmen García-Peña; Francisco Franco-Marina; Luis Miguel Gutiérrez-Robledo Journal: BMC Geriatr Date: 2009-11-03 Impact factor: 3.921