Frailty Level and Health-related Characteristics among Participants of a Tailored Home Visiting Service

Lee, Insook; Jeong, Ihn Sook

Abstract

BACKGROUND
This study aimed to identify the level of frailty and major health problems among participants of a tailored home visiting service.
METHODS
This secondary data analysis study used the 2009 data of 588 participants of a tailored home visiting service in 2 public health centers in Busan. Data on demographics and health-related characteristics were collected from household sheet, disease sheet, and health interview sheet for the elderly. The level of frailty was measured by an instrument developed by the Japanese Ministry of Health.
RESULTS
15.3% of the elderly subjects were considered frail elderly (FE). The major health problems of the FE were poorer activities of daily living skills and higher prevalences of stroke and cognitive impairment than their non-frail counterpart. The mean number of disease was 3 for the FE and 2 for the non-FE. The prevalence of stroke was 12.2% for the FE and 5.8% for the non-FE (p=0.014). The mean dementia screening score was 2.2 (of maximum 10 points) for the FE and 1.4 for the non-FE (p=0.040).
CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that one of seven vulnerable elderly individuals was frail; and stroke and dementia were more prevalent in the frail elderly. We recommend the further developing of service programs for the participants of tailored home visiting services to better manage and prevent the deterioration of stroke and cognitive impairment.