Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb 19;11(3):213-219.
doi: 10.1007/s10433-014-0308-x. eCollection 2014 Sep.

Are physically frail older persons more at risk of adverse outcomes if they also suffer from cognitive, social, and psychological frailty?

Bart H L Ament  1   2 , Marjolein E de Vugt  2 , Frans R J Verhey  2 , Gertrudis I J M Kempen  1
Affiliations

Are physically frail older persons more at risk of adverse outcomes if they also suffer from cognitive, social, and psychological frailty?

Bart H L Ament et al. Eur J Ageing. .

Abstract

Frailty is considered a predictor for negative outcomes such as disability, decreased quality of life, and hospital admission. Frailty measures have been developed that include different dimensions. We examined whether people who are physically frail are more at risk for negative outcomes of frailty if they also suffer from psychological, cognitive, or social frailty. Frailty was measured at baseline by means of the Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI), which comprises a physical, cognitive, social, and psychological dimension. Only frail persons were included in the study (GFI ≥ 5) that, in addition, had to be frail in the physical dimension (i.e., ≥1 on this dimension). IADL disability and quality of life were measured at baseline and at 12 months. Hospital admission was assessed during this period. In this, physically frail sample effects of the other three frailty dimensions were studied in regression models. The sample (n = 334, mean age 78.1, and range 70-92) included 40.1 % frail men and 59.9 % frail women. Overall, no additional effects for the cognitive, social, or psychosocial dimensions were found: other frailty dimensions did not have an additional impact on disability, quality of life, or hospital admission in people who already suffered from physical frailty. Higher scores of physical frailty were significantly related to IADL disability (p < 0.05) and hospital admission (p < 0.05). Additional analysis showed that the physical frailty score predicted IADL disability and hospital admission better than the GFI overall score. Results of this study suggest that persons, who are physically frail, according to the GFI, are not more at risk for negative outcomes of frailty (i.e., IADL disability, decreased quality of life, and hospital admission) if they in addition suffer from cognitive, social, or psychological frailty. In addition, for the prediction of IADL disability or hospital admission, the focus for screening should be on the physical frailty score instead of the GFI overall score including different dimensions.

Keywords: Determinants; Frailty; Hospital admission; IADL disability; Quality of life; Screening.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of participants through measurements
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ament BH, de Vugt ME, Koomen FM, Jansen MW, Verhey FR, Kempen GI. Resources as a protective factor for negative outcomes of frailty in elderly people. Gerontology. 2012;58(5):391–397. doi: 10.1159/000336041. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barreto PS. Participation bias in postal surveys among older adults: the role played by self-reported health, physical functional decline and frailty. Arch Gerontol Geriat. 2012;55(3):592–598. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2012.03.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bilotta C, Bowling A, Case A, Nicolini P, Mauri S, Castelli M, Vergani C. Dimensions and correlates of quality of life according to frailty status: a cross-sectional study on community-dwelling older adults referred to an outpatient geriatric service in Italy. Health Qual Life Out. 2010;8:56. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-8-56. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bowling A. Mode of questionnaire administration can have serious effects on data quality. J Public Health-Uk. 2005;27(3):281–291. - PubMed
    1. Buchner DM, Wagner EH. Preventing frail health. Clin Geriatr Med. 1992;8(1):1–17. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources