Musculoskeletal health and frailty

Abstract

Frailty is a consequence of advanced aging, where the frailty phenotype tries to capture overall decline in health. Frailty involves multiple physiological systems that are intrinsically inter-related and with highly complex interactions. Frailty is closely linked to musculoskeletal health; musculoskeletal functioning is a key component in quantifying frailty, while at the same time, frailty is associated with the most common age-related musculoskeletal conditions: osteoporosis, fractures, falls, osteoarthritis, and spinal conditions. Beyond that, frailty includes additional physical domains such as nutrition and energy, psychological, and social factors. Despite its recognized role in aging health, there is still a lack of consensus on a core set of variables and how to best define clinically relevant thresholds. This would be of utmost importance for additional use to evaluate many aspects associated with musculoskeletal health, progression and personalized interventions, and rehabilitation.

Keywords: Elderly; Fracture; Frailty; Index; Osteoarthritis.