Frailty among institutionalized older people: a cross-sectional study in Natal (Brazil)

Journal of Frailty, Sarcopenia and Falls

ARTICLE

Kenio Costa de Lima¹  Louise Natália Mesquita Belém²  Javier Jerez-Roig¹  Fabienne Louise Juvêncio Paes de Andrade¹ 

[1]Postgraduate Program in Collective Health, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

[2]University of the State of Rio Grande do Norte

[3]Research group on Methodology, Models and Outcomes of Health and Social Sciences (M3O), Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare. Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC)

关键词: Aging;    Health of institutionalized elderly;    Frail elderly;    Long-term institution for elderly;    Cross-sectional studies;   

DOI  :  10.22540/JFSF-04-051

学科分类：内科医学

来源: Hylonome Publications

【 摘 要 】

Objective: Verify the prevalence of frailty and its associated factors in institutionalized older people. Methods: Crosssectional study carried out in 10 nursing homes in Natal (Brazil), between October/2013 and January/2014. All institutionalized older people 60+ that were not hospitalized, in terminal state, coma or under palliative care were included in the study. The dependent variable of the study was the presence/absence of frailty, classified according to the following criteria: severe cognitive decline and/or impossibility of independent walking or being bedridden. The 5 criteria (muscular weakness, unintentional weight loss, low physical activity level, slowness and exhaustion) of Fried et al. were considered for those with preserved cognitive and walking capacity. The chi-square test or Fisher’s test and logistic regression were used for bivariate and multiple analysis, respectively. Sociodemographic, institution-related and health-related variables were also included. Results: Of the 321 participating older people, 80.1% were considered frail, 16.8% pre-frail and 3.1% non-frail. The final model demonstrated association of frailty with age (OR=2.67; 95%CI 1.39-5.14; p=0.003), presence of chronic diseases (OR=10.27; 95%CI 3.42-30.90; p<0.001), systemic arterial hypertension (OR=0.11; 95%CI 0.05-0.27; p<0.001) and institutionalization due to lack of caregiver (OR=2.55; 95%CI 1.36-4.76; p=0.003) adjusted by sex and type of institution. Discussion: Frailty was highly prevalent in institutionalized older people and its association with multi-factor aspects suggested that action of health services and government representations could aid in the prevention or delay of frailty onset, improving the life quality of older people.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-SA