BACKGROUND: To better understand the contribution of frailty to health-related outcomes in elderly persons, it seems valuable to explore data from cohort studies across the world in an attempt to establish a comprehensive definition. The purpose of this report is to show the characteristics of frailty and observe its prognosis in a large sample of French community-dwelling elderly persons. METHODS: We used data from 6078 persons 65 years old or older participating in the Three-City Study (3C). Frailty was defined as having at least three of the following criteria: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slowness, and low activity. Principal outcomes were incident disability, hospitalization, and death. Multiple covariates were used to test the predictive validity of frailty on these outcomes. RESULTS: Four hundred twenty-six individuals (7%) met frailty criteria. Participants classified as frail were significantly older, more likely to be female, and less educated and reported more chronic diseases, lower income, and poorer self-reported health status in comparison to nonfrail participants. In multivariate analysis, frailty was significantly associated with 4-year incidence of disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL. However, frailty was marginally associated with incident hospitalization and was not a statistically significant predictor of incident mobility disability or mortality adjusting for potential confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: Frailty is not specific to a subgroup or region of the world. The construct proposed by Fried and colleagues confirms its predictive validity for adverse-health outcomes, particularly for certain components of disability, thus suggesting that it may be useful in population screening and predicting service needs.
BACKGROUND: To better understand the contribution of frailty to health-related outcomes in elderly persons, it seems valuable to explore data from cohort studies across the world in an attempt to establish a comprehensive definition. The purpose of this report is to show the characteristics of frailty and observe its prognosis in a large sample of French community-dwelling elderly persons. METHODS: We used data from 6078 persons 65 years old or older participating in the Three-City Study (3C). Frailty was defined as having at least three of the following criteria: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slowness, and low activity. Principal outcomes were incident disability, hospitalization, and death. Multiple covariates were used to test the predictive validity of frailty on these outcomes. RESULTS: Four hundred twenty-six individuals (7%) met frailty criteria. Participants classified as frail were significantly older, more likely to be female, and less educated and reported more chronic diseases, lower income, and poorer self-reported health status in comparison to nonfrail participants. In multivariate analysis, frailty was significantly associated with 4-year incidence of disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL. However, frailty was marginally associated with incident hospitalization and was not a statistically significant predictor of incident mobility disability or mortality adjusting for potential confounding factors. CONCLUSIONS: Frailty is not specific to a subgroup or region of the world. The construct proposed by Fried and colleagues confirms its predictive validity for adverse-health outcomes, particularly for certain components of disability, thus suggesting that it may be useful in population screening and predicting service needs.
Authors: Jeremy Walston; Evan C Hadley; Luigi Ferrucci; Jack M Guralnik; Anne B Newman; Stephanie A Studenski; William B Ershler; Tamara Harris; Linda P Fried Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2006-06 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: Caroline S Blaum; Qian Li Xue; Elisabete Michelon; Richard D Semba; Linda P Fried Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2005-06 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: K Rockwood; K Stadnyk; D Carver; K M MacPherson; H E Beanlands; C Powell; P Stolee; V S Thomas; R S Tonks Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2000-09 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: Calvin Hirsch; Melissa L Anderson; Anne Newman; Willem Kop; Sharon Jackson; John Gottdiener; Russell Tracy; Linda P Fried Journal: Ann Epidemiol Date: 2006-01-04 Impact factor: 3.797
Authors: Luigi Ferrucci; Jack M Guralnik; Stephanie Studenski; Linda P Fried; Gordon B Cutler; Jeremy D Walston Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2004-04 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: M S Yassuda; A Lopes; M Cachioni; D V S Falcao; S S T Batistoni; V V Guimaraes; A L Neri Journal: J Nutr Health Aging Date: 2012-01 Impact factor: 4.075
Authors: F Panza; V Solfrizzi; V Frisardi; S Maggi; D Sancarlo; F Adante; G D'Onofrio; D Seripa; A Pilotto Journal: J Nutr Health Aging Date: 2011-08 Impact factor: 4.075
Authors: Iñaki Martín Lesende; Ana Gorroñogoitia Iturbe; Javier Gómez Pavón; Juan José Baztán Cortés; Pedro Abizanda Soler Journal: Aten Primaria Date: 2009-11-27 Impact factor: 1.137
Authors: Holly Syddall; Helen C Roberts; Maria Evandrou; Cyrus Cooper; Howard Bergman; Avan Aihie Sayer Journal: Age Ageing Date: 2009-12-08 Impact factor: 10.668