Frailty among Mexican community-dwelling elderly: a story told 11 years later. The Mexican Health and Aging Study.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the characteristics and prognosis of subjects classified as frail in a large sample of Mexican community-dwelling elderly.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

An eleven-year longitudinal study of 5 644 old adults participating in the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). Frailty was defined by meeting at least three of the following criteria: weight loss, weakness, exhaustion, slow walking speed and low physical activity. The main outcomes were incident disability and death. Multiple covariates were used to test the prognostic value of frailty.

RESULTS

Thirty-seven percent of participants (n= 2 102) met the frailty criteria. Frail participants were significantly older, female, less educated, with more chronic disease, lower income, and poorer self-reported health status, in comparison with their non-frail counterparts. Frailty was a predictor both for disability activities of daily living and for mortality.

CONCLUSION

After a follow-up of more than ten years, the phenotype of frailty was a predictor for adverse health-related outcomes, including ADL disability and death.