Frailty, sarcopenia and health related outcomes among elderly patients in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective To determine the prevalence of frailty and sarcopenia among elderly patients in Saudi Arabia and explore if there are significant association between frailty and sarcopenia. Methods A total of 498 patients from public tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia participated in this descriptive cross-sectional study between March 2019 to June 2019. All participants answered a 5-part questionnaire, which includes demographic data, Edmonton Frail Scale, SARC-F and questions related to Activities of Daily living. Results The mean age of the participants was 69.98 ± 6.28. Of the 498 participants, 67.7% were aged 61–70 years and 42% had a BMI of greater than < 30 kg/m 2 . The prevalence of patients with mild frail, moderate frail and severely frail were 22, 12, and 4%, respectively. The analysis showed that majority of patients who had sarcopenia were females (84%). The analysis show that the level of frailty of patients were significantly different between age, marital status, educational level and patients’ needs of home care, activities of daily living, presence of comorbidity and sarcopenia (p = 0.001). In the logistic regression analysis, the pre-frailty group was significantly likely to have sarcopenia (OR 0.02 95% 0.01–0.23p = 0.001) than nonfrailty patients. Conclusion In conclusion, this research highlights the high prevalence of sarcopenia among elderly patients and the increasing percentage of frail patients in Saudi Arabia. In addition, significant difference and association were found with sarcopenia and frailty with many sociodemographic and clinical components of elderly patients in Saudi Arabia.

Prevalence of Frailty in the Middle East: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The quality of all of the included studies ranged from 3 to 8 as per the Newcastle-Ottawa scale with a mean score of 6.18 for all included studies indicating satisfactory quality. One study scored 3 [ 17 ] two studies scored 5 [ 16 , 27 ] two studies scored 6 [ 23 , 24 ] five studies scored 7 [ 15 , 19 , 25 , 26 ] and one study scored 8 [ 20 ] No studies scored 1, 2, 4 or 9. Table 2 shows the quality rating for all included studies.…”

“…Studies conducted in Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia have shown that frailty rates ranged between 4 and 60% [ 14 ]. The available data from the Middle East countries revealed an overall prevalence of frailty among individuals who are 60 years old or more of 47% in the United Arab Emirates [ 15 ], 40% in Saudi Arabia [ 16 ], 66.3% in Egypt [ 17 ], 60% in Iran [ 18 ], 28.7% in Turkey [ 19 ], and 81.3% in Lebanon [ 20 ]. However, these discrepancies in the prevalence of frailty require a comprehensive overview of frailty prevalence in these countries since there are commonly shared geographical and demographical factors.…”

Frailty in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—Prevalence and Management, Where Are We?

“…Another study witnessed the association of frailty with sarcopenic elderly patients [ 49 ]. This descriptive cross-sectional study involves the participation of 498 patients from a public tertiary hospital.…”

Sarcopenia of Ageing: Does a Healthier Lifestyle Matter in Reversing the Trajectory? A Brief Narrative Review and a Call for Action in Saudi Arabia

“…The prevalence was higher in nursing-home individuals, reaching 51% in men and 31% in women and in hospitalized individuals it was 23% in men and 24% in women. [ 13 ] In Saudi Arabia, few studies have been conducted to assess the prevalence of sarcopenia among Saudis; however, they were based on subjective assessment[ 14 15 ] or on the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia (AWGS) criteria (not based on reference values for Saudis). [ 16 ]…”