Normative data for three physical frailty parameters in an aging, rural Indian population

Abstract

Introduction Physical frailty is associated with multiple adverse health outcomes. Since physical characteristics markedly vary with different populations, population‐specific norms for physical frailty parameters are necessary. Such norms are lacking for the Indian population, especially for older, rural Indians. We aimed to develop normative values for three quantitative, frailty parameters—handgrip strength, “Timed Up‐and‐Go” (TUG) test time, and physical activity in an aging, rural Indian population. Methods The study sample is from an ongoing, prospective, cohort (Srinivaspura NeuoSenescence and COGnition, SANSCOG) comprised of rural, community‐dwelling, cognitively healthy, aging Indians. Subjects are recruited through area sampling strategy, from villages of Srinivaspura, Kolar district, Karnataka state, India. Three physical frailty parameters of Fried's phenotype—handgrip strength (n = 1787), TUG time (n = 1863), and physical activity (n = 1640) were assessed using digital hand dynamometry, TUG test, and General Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ), respectively. Results The 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th percentiles for the three frailty parameters were: right‐hand grip strength (kg): males—13.9, 18.6, 23.8, 28.7, 33.7 and females—7.8, 10.6, 14.2, 17.9, 21.3; left‐hand grip strength (kg): males—13.3, 18.3, 23.6, 28.9, 32.9 and females—7.9, 10.5, 14.3, 17.8, 21.2; TUG time (s): males—9.1, 10.1, 11.4, 13.4, 15.5 and females—9.5, 10.7, 12.4, 14.5, 16.6; physical activity (MET‐minutes/week): males—1680; 4320; 8880; 15,840; 23,352 and females—1680; 4320; 9240; 15,120; 20,160. Discussion Our findings show that from 45 years onwards, overall grip strength decreases and TUG time increases, with women performing significantly poorer than men across all age groups, except >75 years, where no differences were seen. Physical activity did not show any consistent trend according to age or gender. Reference values for this aging, rural Indian population were substantially lower for grip strength and higher for TUG time than aging populations in several Western and other Asian countries.

Prevalence of neuropsychiatric conditions and cognitive impairment in two parallel, aging study cohorts from rural and urban India

“…Possible explanations for female preponderance in cognitive impairment in our rural cohort could be due to the lower levels of literacy, higher prevalence of nutritional deficiencies, and higher rate of early life socio‐economic disadvantages in rural women as compared to their male counterparts. Furthermore, in our rural cohort, we have also observed a significantly higher prevalence of physical frailty 48 in women than men. In the urban cohort, higher prevalence in male as compared to female subjects could be due to a higher prevalence of vascular risk factors, particularly hypertension, in Indian male as compared to female subjects, as demonstrated by a recently‐published study based on data from the National Family Health Survey‐4 in India 49 .…”

Longitudinal Quantiles of Frailty Trajectories Considering Death: New Insights into Sex and Cohort Differences in the Reference Curves for Frailty Progression of Older European

“…This article contributes to the existing literature ( 49 , 50 ) on the heterogeneity of frailty trajectories by estimating reference curves that account for the longitudinal nature of frailty, showing heterogeneity in the association of sex and education for different levels of frailty, and considering the missing data and death processes to reduce bias in inferences. Furthermore, our results supplement recent work on the consistency and reliability of the FI to target policies among groups of community-dwelling older adults ( 51 ).…”

Gender Differences in Determinants of the Components of the Frailty Phenotype among Older Adults in India: Findings from LASI Wave-1

“…In our study, it is also shown that grip strength showed the best sensitivity and accuracy for the male participants than the other frailty components. Generally, grip strength becomes weaker with age, eventually affecting older adults’ quality of life [ 29 , 30 ]. However, older males are more vulnerable because of dynapenia [ 31 , 32 ], as they exhibit more age-related loss of muscle strength [ 33 , 34 ].…”