Obesity and Frailty Syndrome in the Elderly: Prospective Study in Primary Care

Abstract

Background: Obesity is a chronic pathology that affects people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, residing in both developed and developing countries. Objective: Our aim is to study the link between obesity and frailty in the elderly. Method: A prospective study was carried out in 12 General Medicine practices in Champagne-Ardenne, in the Departments of Marne and the Ardennes, France, for a period of 12 months (from 2 May 2019 through 30 April 2020). All patients included were aged 65 or older, in consultation with a general practitioner, and had an ADL (Activity of Daily Living) greater than or equal to 4. Frailty was measured using the Fried scale and the simplified ZULFIQAR frailty scale. Results: 268 patients aged 65 and over were included, with an average age of 77.5 years. A total of 100 were obese according to BMI. The mean Fried (/5) in the series was 1.57, and the mean sZFS (/5) was 0.91. Our study shows that obesity is not significantly correlated with frailty according to the FRIED sarcopenic scale, but is significantly correlated with frailty according to the sZFS scale. Conclusions: The link between obesity and frailty remains much debated, with the underlying emergence of sarcopenic obesity equally prevalent among the elderly. This is a preliminary study that should be followed by large-scale outpatient studies to better clarify the links between sarcopenia and obesity.

Keywords: Fried’s scale; frailty syndrome; obesity; primary care; sZFS; sarcopenic obesity.