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. 2022 Mar;34(2):233-244.
doi: 10.1177/08982643211040706. Epub 2021 Sep 1.

Frailty and Determinants of Health Among Older Adults in the United States 2011-2016

Emma L Kurnat-Thoma  1   2 , Meghan T Murray  1   3 , Paul Juneau  4
Affiliations

Frailty and Determinants of Health Among Older Adults in the United States 2011-2016

Emma L Kurnat-Thoma et al. J Aging Health. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: To characterize frailty phenotype in a representative cohort of older Americans and examine determinants of health factors.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of data from 5,553 adults ≥60 years old in the 2011-2016 cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). World Health Organization "Determinants of Health" conceptual model was used to prioritize variables for multinomial logistic regression for the outcome of modified Fried frailty phenotype.

Results: 482 participants (9%) were frail and 2432 (44%) prefrail. Four factors were highly associated with frailty: difficulty with ≥1 activity of daily living (77%; OR 24.81 p < 0.01), ≥2 hospitalizations in the previous year (17%, OR 3.94 p < 0.01), having >2 comorbidities (27%; OR 3.33 p < 0.01), and polypharmacy (66%; OR 2.38 p < 0.01).

Discussion: A modified Fried frailty assessment incorporating five self-reported criteria may be useful as a rapid nursing screen in low-resource settings. These assessments can streamline nursing care coordination and case management activities, thereby facilitating targeted frailty interventions to support healthy aging in vulnerable populations.

Keywords: Fried phenotype; case management; frailty; nursing; social determinants of health (SDOH).

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Distribution pattern of polypharmacy in frailty by gender. Note. Figure 1 is a summary of polypharmacy (≥5 prescription medications used in past 30 days) in frailty status by gender, as percent of total frequency (n = 5533). Polypharmacy was greater in prefrail and frail women compared to men.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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