Home Environment and Frailty in Very Old Adults

Overview

Journal Z Gerontol Geriatr

Publisher Springer

Specialty Geriatrics

Date 2021 Sep 27

PMID 34570266

Citations 6

Authors

Jaroslava Zimmermann

Sylvia Hansen

Michael Wagner

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Since older adults spend much time in their home environment (HE), frailty may occur as a consequence of a maladaptation to the HE. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of frailty in the very old population of North Rhine-Westphalia, and to examine the association between the HE and the frailty levels of these individuals.

Methods: Data from a cross-sectional representative study were used, including data on 1577 community-dwelling individuals and nursing home residents aged ≥ 80 years. Objective and subjective HE aspects were included. Frailty was defined according to four criteria: exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, weakness, and low physical activity. Adjusted multinomial regression modelling was used to analyze the link between the HE and frailty levels.

Results: Of the very old individuals, 24.3% were robust, 57.0% were prefrail, and 18.7% were frail. Adjusting for relevant sociodemographic and health characteristics, being not closely attached to the HE was linked with an increased probability of being prefrail and frail. An improvement of the residential area was associated with a decrease in odds of being frail. Living in communities with less than 50,000 and with 100,000-499,999 inhabitants decreased the odds of being frail.

Discussion: Frailty prevalence is shown to be higher in the very old population than in the younger age groups in Germany. Early identification of frailty and tailored interventions focused on improving objective and subjective attributes of the HE are needed to reduce the risk of frailty.

Citing Articles

Explainable machine learning model for pre-frailty risk assessment in community-dwelling older adults.

Du C, Zhang Z, Liu B, Cao Z, Jiang N, Zhang Z Health Care Sci. 2024; 3(6):426-437.

PMID: 39735284 PMC: 11671213. DOI: 10.1002/hcs2.120.

Individual characteristics associated with the utilization of nursing care in the very old population: a cross-sectional study.

Zimmermann J BMC Geriatr. 2022; 22(1):763.

PMID: 36127642 PMC: 9487145. DOI: 10.1186/s12877-022-03448-y.

Park J, Kang S Healthcare (Basel). 2022; 10(7).

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Prevalence of Prefrailty and Frailty Among Older Adults in Germany: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Regression.

Hajek A, Kretzler B, Konig H Front Med (Lausanne). 2022; 9:870714.

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[The flourishing life : Society, politics and the practice of old age].

Woopen C, Wagner M, Zank S Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2021; 54(Suppl 2):138-143.

PMID: 34623481 PMC: 8551140. DOI: 10.1007/s00391-021-01979-4.

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