Premium
Frailty prevalence in Australia: Findings from four pooled Australian cohort studies
Author(s) -
Thompson Mark Q,
Theou Olga,
Kar Jonathon,
Adams Robert J,
Visvanathan Renuka
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12483
Subject(s) - medicine , cohort , demography , gerontology , marital status , cohort study , ageing , older people , frailty index , population , environmental health , sociology
Objective To examine frailty prevalence in Australian older adults. Methods Frailty was measured using a modified Fried Frailty Phenotype ( FFP ) in a combined cohort of 8804 Australian adults aged ≥65 years (female 86%, median age 80 (79–82) years) from the Dynamic Analyses to Optimise Ageing Project and the North West Adelaide Health Study. Results Using the FFP , 21% of participants were frail while a further 48% were prefrail. Chi‐squared testing of frailty among four age groups (65–69, 70–74, 75–79 and 80–84 years) for sex, and marital status revealed that frailty was significantly higher for women (approximately double that of men), increased significantly with advancing age for both sexes, and was significantly higher for women who were widowed, divorced or never married. Conclusion If frailty could be prevented or reversed, it would have an impact on a larger number of older people.