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Comparative Study
. 2009 Nov;41(11):892-7.
doi: 10.2340/16501977-0424.

Frailty and incidence of activities of daily living disability among older Mexican Americans

Soham Al Snih  1 , James E Graham, Laura A Ray, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Kyriakos S Markides, Kenneth J Ottenbacher
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Frailty and incidence of activities of daily living disability among older Mexican Americans

Soham Al Snih et al. J Rehabil Med. 2009 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between frailty status and incidence of disability among non-disabled older Mexican Americans.

Design: A 10-year prospective cohort study.

Subjects: A total of 1645 non-institutionalized Mexican Americans aged 67 years and older from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE), who reported no limitation in activities of daily living at baseline.

Methods: Frailty was defined as meeting 3 or more of the following components: (i) unintentional weight loss of > 2.26 kg; (ii) weakness (lowest 20% in hand grip strength); (iii) self-reported exhaustion; (iv) slow walking speed; and (v) low physical activity level. Socio-demographic factors, Mini Mental State Examination, medical conditions, body mass index, and self-reported activities of daily living were obtained.

Results: Of the 1645 non-disabled subjects at baseline, 820 (50%) were not frail, 749 (45.7%) were pre-frail, and 71 (4.3%) were frail. The hazard ratio of activities of daily living disability at 10-year follow-up for pre-frail subjects was 1.32 (95% confidence interval 1.10-1.58) and 2.42 (95% confidence interval 70-3.46) for frail subjects compared with not frail subjects. This association remained statistically significant after controlling for potential confounding factors at baseline.

Conclusion: Pre-frail and frail status in older Mexican Americans was associated with an increased risk of activities of daily living disability over a 10-year period among non-disabled subjects.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of the sample at follow-up by frailty status at baseline (n = 1645). ADL: activities of daily living.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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