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O steoporosis-related fractures are a major health concern, affecting a growing number of individuals worldwide. The burden of fracture has largely been assessed by the impact on health-related quality of life and health care costs. 1,2Fractures can also be associated with death. However, trials that have examined the relation between fractures and mortality have had limitations that may influence their results and the generalizability of the studies, including small samples, 3,4 the examination of only 1 type of fracture, 4-10 the inclusion of only wo men, 8,11 the enrolment of participants from specific areas (i.e., hospitals or certain geographic regions), 3,4,7,8,10,12 the nonrandom selection of participants 3-11 and the lack of statistical adjustment for confounding factors that may influence mortality. 3,[5][6][7]12 We evaluated the relation between incident fractures and mortality over a 5-year period in a cohort of men and women 50 years of age and older. In addition, we examined whether other characteristics of participants were risk factors for death. MethodsStudy design and population Details about the purpose and methodology of the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study have been reported previously. 13 The Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study is a large prospective trial that provides substantial data on fractures

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BackgroundThe objectives of this study were to determine: 1) the prevalence of frailty using Fried’s phenotype method and the Short Performance Physical Battery (SPPB), 2) agreement between frailty assessment methods, 3) the feasibility of assessing frailty using Fried’s phenotype method and the SPPB.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted at a geriatric out-patient clinic in Hamilton, Canada. A research assistant conducted all frailty assessments. Patients were classified as non-frail, pre-frail or frail according to Fried’s phenotype method and the SPPB. Agreement among methods is reported using the Cohen kappa statistic (standard error). Feasibility data included the percent of eligible participants agreeing to attempt the frailty assessments (criterion for feasibility: ≥90% of patients agreeing to the frailty assessment), equipment required, and safety considerations. A p-value of <0.05 is considered significant.ResultsA total of 110 participants (92%) and 109 participants (91%) agreed to attempt Fried’s phenotype method and SPPB, respectively. No adverse events occurred during any assessments. According to Fried’s phenotype method, the prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty was 35% and 56%, respectively, and according to the SPPB, the prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty was 50% and 35%, respectively. There was fair to moderate agreement between methods for determining which participants were frail (0.488 [0.082], p < 0.001) and pre-frail (0.272 [0.084], p = 0.002).ConclusionsFrailty and pre-frailty are common in this geriatric outpatient population, and there is fair to moderate agreement between Fried’s phenotype method and the SPPB. Over 90% of the patients who were eligible for the study agreed to attempt the frailty assessments, demonstrating that according to our feasibility criteria, frailty can be assessed in this patient population. Assessing frailty may help clinicians identify high-risk patients and tailor interventions based on baseline frailty characteristics.