Frail seniors face greater health risks

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Frail seniors face greater health risks

By Schorr

NEW YORK, Apr 12 (Reuters Health) - Elderly people who meet three criteria

of frailty face a significantly higher risk of death than their more robust

peers, an extensive study of more than 5,000 senior citizens reports.

The study set out to define exactly what constitutes frailty, which groups

were more likely to become frail, and to determine whether frail elders have

a greater vulnerability to disease, disability and death.

" The problem is there hasn't been any standard way to define who's frail, "

lead author Dr. P. Fried, director of the s Hopkins Center on

Aging and Health in Baltimore, land, told Reuters Health. " It's been an

elusive concept to get your hands on, and because of that, it's hard to know

you're providing the right treatment for the right person. "

The results of the 7-year study were reported in the March issue of the

Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

The researchers defined frailty as having three or more of the following

qualities: slow walking, a weak grip, shrinking of body weight,

self-reported low energy, or low physical activity.

Judging by those criteria, 7% of the total population of over 5,300

independently living seniors aged 65 and older in the study were defined as

frail, while 46% had none of the criteria for frailty. Older seniors were

more likely to be frail: in seniors aged 85 to 89, about a quarter were

designated as frail.

While that makes frailty a fairly common syndrome, it still excludes the

vast majority of seniors. " It does say that lots of older adults are very

robust, " Fried noted. " This very vulnerable group is just a subset. "

However, she added, the study only looked at seniors living on their own,

excluding those in nursing homes or hospitals, where presumably a higher

percent of frail people might be found.

The study found that 43% of those who had been defined as frail died within

the study's 7-year time frame, compared with only 12% of those who were cons

idered robust.

" This definition helped find people who were at high risk for death,

hospitalization, falls--things geriatricians think they are at risk for, "

Fried noted. " It was the case that being defined as frail predicted who was

at high risk of dying. "

The study also found that women and African Americans were more vulnerable

to being frail than other populations.

Fried hopes the study will provide directions for lessening or treating the

onset of frailty. " We need to figure out how we can do prevention, " Fried

said. " I hope this will provide an avenue for doing that. " For example, she

said, there is good evidence that strengthening exercises may be highly

beneficial for elders and prevent bone fractures.

SOURCE: Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 2001;96A:M1-M11.