Associated Factors of Frailty in Community-Living Older Adults

Abstract

Introduction: Aging is a progressive process of human nature, occurs naturally and affects individuals biologically,
psychologically and socially. Recent literature data present that a common phenomenon observed in the elderly and
especially in those suffering from chronic diseases is the frailty syndrome, affecting their physical and mental health,
but also their social life. This study aims to investigate the frailty of elderly people living in the community, as well as the
demographic, social and economic factors associated with the frailty syndrome. Material and Method: A descriptive
cross-sectional study was performed on 257 individuals among community. The persons had to meet specific criteria
for inclusion in the survey. Convenience sampling was performed. Data collection based on anonymous questionnaire,
consisting of a. demographic and social questions, and b. the Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI), which assesses physical,
mental and social frailty. The data were processed by descriptive and inductive statistical analysis. The level of statistical
significance was set at p <0.05. Results: The study involved men (44.4%) and women (55.6%) with average age 75.12
years. The majority of participants were married (65.4%), with one or two children (60.7%), primary school graduates
(68.5%), lived in a non-urban area (54.9%), lived with family members or others (75.9%), while 61.9% described their
lifestyle as healthy. Moreover, the vast majority of elderly people (93.0%) declared that they were satisfied with the family environment. The overall frailty score ranged from 0 to 13, with average 5.44 and median 5.00, less than 7.5
which is the middle value of the theoretical range of answers. These results show that the majority of elderly individuals
had relatively low overall Frailty scores. Regarding the components of the TFI Scale, Physical Frailty mean equaled 2.70
(standard deviation = 2.16), Mental Frailty 1.43 (standard deviation = 1.21) and Social Frailty 1.32 (standard deviation =
0.64). The Education level, the marital status and the cohabitation affect both all the TFI Scale components and overall
Frailty (p<0,005). The Gender, the age, and the individual monthly income influence the Physical, the Mental and the
Overall Frailty (p<0,005). The number of children affects the Physical and the Mental Frailty (p<0,005). The satisfaction
from the family environment affects the Mental, the Social and the Overall Frailty. In addition, the Mental Frailty conducive the lifestyle, which neither affect any component of Frailty nor the Overall one. Conclusions: This study investigated the correlation of the demographic factors, the individual and the social characteristics and the presence or
absence of Frailty syndrome. The obtained results show that the main determinants of frailty in Community-Dwelling
older people are gender, old age, low educational level, lack of a partner and financial hardship consistently the older
adults with these characteristics being more prone to its appearance. This conclusion concerns all componentsof Frailty
(physical, mental and social). In addition, the outcomes of this paper presented that the Physical Frailty is increased
compared to the Mental and the Social Frailty. The findings of the study, which focused on a small population sample,
are consistent with those of other published researches. The availability of new, recent, up-to-date data is imperative
for health care professionals to be more quickly informed, sensitized and better educated about geriatric patients,
contributing to optimize the health care provision.