Frailty syndrome and socioeconomic and health characteristics among older adults

Objective:To investigate the association of frailty syndrome with socioeconomic and health variables among older adults.Methods:This is a cross-sectional, observational and analytical household research conducted with a sample of 1,609 urban elderly. We used: semi-structured questionnaire, scales (Katz, Lawton and shortened version of Geriatric Depression Scale) and Fragility Phenotype proposed by Fried. Descriptive analysis was performed along with a bivariate and multinomial logistic regression model (p <0.05).Results:The prevalence of pre-frailty condition was 52.0% and the fragility corresponded to 13.6%. Pre-frailty and frailty associated factors were, respectively: age range between 70 and 79 years and 80 years or more; one to four morbidities and five or more morbidities categories; functional disability for basic and instrumental activities of daily life and depression indicative; whilst lack of a companion or income and female gender were only associated to pre-frailty.Conclusion:The conditions of pre-frailty and frailty levels were elevated with negative effects on the health of the elderly.