Evaluation of frailty and its impact on geriatric assessment

Abstract

AimFrailty has become an increasingly important topic, being directly correlated with ageing, presence of comorbidities, and also with other factors. It is a state of high vulnerability and is a consequence of ageing‐related decline in whole body functioning. In order to initiate preventive and therapeutic measures, we need to identify the characteristics of current frail older adults. To identify the characteristics of frailty depending on age, area of residence and to assess the relationship between frailty and disability, cognitive impairment, malnutrition, depression and comorbidities.MethodsIncluded in the study were 663 consecutively admitted patients over the age of 65. Frailty was evaluated using the Fried criteria and a comprehensive geriatric assessment. The mean age of the subjects enrolled in this study was 76.58 ± 6.5 years, most of the patients residing in rural areas (62.4%).ResultsA diagnosis of frailty was made in 73% of the study patients. The presence of frailty was found to be negatively correlated, statistically significant with cognitive function assessed by Mini‐Mental State Examination (P = 0.039, r = −0.094) and malnutrition assessed by Mini Nutritional Assessment (P = 0.001, r = −0.151). Also, the presence of frailty was positively correlated, statistically significant with depression evaluated by Geriatric Depression Scale (P = 0.046, r = 0.093).ConclusionsFrailty is a common condition in the surveyed elderly population. It is associated with the presence of other geriatric syndromes such as malnutrition, cognitive impairment, depression, and is influenced by age.

Fragility syndrome in older adults in a rural community in the Peruvian Andes

“…Al respecto, Curcio (19) , encontró una prevalencia de fragilidad del 12,2% entre 1878 mayores de 60 años, residentes en una comunidad de los Andes colombianos. En otro estudio realizado en Japón, Maştarelu (20) , evaluó de manera consecutiva un grupo de 663 personas mayores de 65 años, de los cuales el 73% eran frágiles y en su mayoría residentes en áreas rurales. Recientemente, Yadav (21) publicó los resultados de una investigación efectuada en un grupo de 794 AM, habitantes de zonas rurales del Nepal, encontrando una prevalencia de SF del 65%, empleando para tal fin un novedoso instrumento: la Frail Non-disabled scale (FiND).…”

Sintomas depressivos e fragilidade física em pessoas idosas: revisão integrativa

“…A presença da fragilidade física em pessoas idosas gera um estado de alerta para os profissionais de saúde, devido à predisposição da pessoa idosa à vulnerabilidade e consequentemente declínio físico e funcional. Ela está associada à presença de outras condições geriátricas, como os sintomas depressivos 7 . Atenção especial deve ser direcionada às pessoas idosas frágeis para surgimento de sintomas depressivos 8,9 .…”