Factors Related to Frailty in the Community-dwelling Elderly

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify the frailty status and associated factors among community-dwelling elderly people.

Method: Seventy-four community-dwelling people 65 years and older were recruited at a community health care center in A city in this cross-sectional survey. Data were collected on demographics, personal factors including body mass index, frontal assessment battery, depression, self-esteem, subjective well-being, environmental factors including generativity-related interest as independent variables, and the Frailty Index as dependent variable.

Results: A total of 68 elderly persons participated in this study（response rate:100.0 %）. The mean±SD age of all participants was 76.3 ± 6.1 years old, and 45（66.2%）were female. Of the participants, 4.4% were frail, 57.4% were pre-frail, and 38.2% were non-frail. The multiple regression analysis indicated that the score of the Frailty Index significantly correlated with subjective well-being（β=－0.306, p=0.006）, and generativity-related interest（β=－0.410, p<0.001）in community-dwelling elderly people.

Conclusion: It is recommended that health practitioners should develop an intervention program and a system to enhance the subjective well-being and the generativity-related interest for primary prevention of frailty in the elderly people in a community.