Prevalence of frailty status among the European elderly population: Findings from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2019

Authors

Manfredi, G (Author) Other; Midao, L (Author) Other; Constança Paúl (Author) ICBAS; Cena, C (Author) Other; Duarte, M (Author) Other; Costa, E (Author) FFUP

Journal

Title: Geriatrics & Gerontology International

Vol. 19

Pages: 723-729

ISSN: 1444-1586

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 76 Citations

Scopus - 90 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00Q-NWZ

DOI: 10.1111/ggi.13689

Abstract (EN): Aim In the present study, we aimed to update the data of frailty status in the European community-dwelling population of older adults, based on the latest data released (wave 6) of the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe database, and to study the impact of each criterion on frailty assessment. Methods Frailty status was assessed applying a version of the Fried phenotype operationalized for the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe. We included all participants who answered all the questions used in a frailty assessment and who disclosed their sex and, furthermore, who were aged >= 50 years. Our final sample was 60 816 individuals. Of these, the mean age was 67.45 +/- 9.71 years; 38 497 (56.4%) were women. Results The overall prevalence of pre-frailty was 42.9% (ranging from 34.0% in Austria to 52.8% in Estonia), and frailty was 7.7% (ranging from 3.0% in Switzerland to 15.6% in Portugal). Pre-frailty and frailty prevalence increased along with age, and were more frequent among women. Regarding the five criteria considered on frailty assessment, exhaustion seems to be the criterion that contributes most to frailty status, followed by low activity, weakness, loss of appetite and slowness. Conclusions With this work, we showed that >50% of the European population aged >50 years are pre-frail/frail, which must be considered when designing interventions to reduce/postpone/mitigate the progression of this condition, thus reducing the burden associated with it. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 723-729.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 7