[Frailty progress and related factors in the elderly living in community: a prospective study].

Objective: To investigate frailty progress status and related factors in the elderly living in communities. Methods: A cohort of elderly people aged 65 and over in Pingyi community of Dujiangyan, Sichuan province, was established. Face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted by trained interviewers. The frailty status, cognitive function, nutrition status and other functions of the subjects surveyed were evaluated at baseline survey and during follow-up. The socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of the subjects surveyed were assessed at baseline survey. Binary logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with frailty progress. Results: A total of 653 elderly people were surveyed in January 2014, and 507 elderly people were followed up while 146 elderly people terminated further follow-up in January 2017. The prevalence rates of frailty and pre-frailty at baseline survey were 11.2% ( n =57) and 26.2% ( n =133), respectively. After 3 years, 205 subjects (40.4%) surveyed experienced frailty progress, 276 (54.5%) remained to be in frailty state at baseline survey, and 26 (5.1%) had improvement. Disability ( OR =8.27, 95 %CI : 1.62-42.26), visual problem ( OR =2.02, 95 %CI : 1.27-3.22), cognitive impairment ( OR =1.94, 95 %CI : 1.08-3.48), poor self-rated health ( OR =1.89, 95 %CI : 1.07-3.31), chronic pain ( OR =1.57, 95 %CI : 1.03-2.40) and older age ( OR =1.12, 95 %CI : 1.08-1.17) were independently associated with the progress of frailty. In contract, overweight was a protective factor ( OR =0.54, 95 %CI : 0.34-0.85). Conclusions: Frailty is a dynamic syndrome affected by several socio-demographic factors and geriatric factors. The results of the study can be used in the prevention of frailty progress in the elderly in communities.