Ann Geriatr Med Res.  2022 Dec;26(4):309-315. 10.4235/agmr.22.0097.

Differential Associations of Frailty with the Incidence of Mild and Severe Disabilities in Older Adults: A 3-Year Cohort Study

• Hagiyama A
• Takao S
• Matsuo R
• Yorifuji T

• KMID: 2538726
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4235/agmr.22.0097

Abstract

Background
Frailty is associated with the incidence of disability in older adults; however, few studies have investigated differences in the association of frailty with mild and severe disabilities according to Japanese long-term care insurance certification. This study separately investigated the associations between frailty and the incidence of mild and severe disabilities.
Methods
This 3-year retrospective cohort study included community-dwelling adults in Okayama City aged ≥65 years. We assessed frailty status using the Kihon Checklist and defined the outcomes as mild and severe disabilities according to long-term care insurance certifications. We applied multinomial logistic regression analysis to investigate the association between frailty and the incidence of mild and severe disabilities.
Results
The analysis included a total of 36,043 participants. For mild disability, the odds ratios (ORs) comparing frail to robust and prefrail to robust were 3.85 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.36–4.42) and 1.82 (95% CI, 1.58–2.10), respectively. Similarly, the corresponding ORs for severe disability were 4.35 (95% CI, 3.55–5.34) and 1.78 (95% CI, 1.43–2.21), respectively. In the age-stratified analysis of mild disability, the pre-old group (aged 65–74 years) with frail showed a higher association than the old-age group (aged ≥75 years) with frail. Regarding severe disability, the older group with frailty showed a higher association than the pre-old group with frailty.
Conclusion
The results showed that both prefrail and frail were associated with the incidence of mild and severe disabilities, with different patterns of association between the pre-old and old age groups.

Keyword

Aged; Frailty; Incidence; Long-term care