Self-perceived health and functional status of older people: Telephone-based lifestyle survey of older adults in Tehran province.

Background: The prevalence study of health conditions can help policy makers to document base policymaking. This study aimed to reveal the health status, including the prevalence of geriatric syndrome health conditions such as activity of daily livings, pain, and physical and mental health of older adults in Tehran province. Methods: This cross-sectional study was a telephone survey with older people ≥60 years old using a systematic random sampling of telephone numbers in Tehran province. The Persian version of the Katz' activity of daily living (ADL) and the Lawton's instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) questionnaires were used to evaluate the functional status. Pain, history of chronic diseases, continence, hospital admission, sensory problems, and self-perceived health (SPH) were asked by trained nurses or gerontologists thorough telephone interviews. Results: In this study, 1251 older adults with the mean age of 67.03±7.51 years have been recruited. About 64.50% (95% CI: 64.4-64.6) of them were totally independent according to ADL (female=60.02% and male=68.50%), and about 40.50% (95% CI: 40.4-40.5) were independent based on IADL domains (female=39.41% and male=41.80). The dependency rates in ADL increased with the aging of population. Joint pain was the most prevalent type of pains and near to 26.00% (95% CI: 64.4-64.6) of the participants suffered moderate joint pains. About 71.5% (95% CI: 71.4-71.5) of the participants were urinary continent (female=67.66% and male=76.06%), and 91.9% (95% CI: 91.9-92.0) had bowel control (female=91.47% and male=92.94%) and the prevalence of incontinence increased by advancing age. Only 26.70% (95% CI: 26.6-26.8) of the participants reported excellent and good levels of perceived health status (female=21.98% and male=31.48%) and about 26.2% (95% CI: 26.1-26.2) of them reported some degree of visual impairment. Conclusion: The results of the present study can provide a good view about the health profile of older adults, including pain, functional status, sphincter control, chronic diseases, sensory status, and SPH. Future studies should prioritize SPH as an important predictor of mortality rates.

Low physical activity is the strongest factor associated with frailty phenotype and frailty index: data from baseline phase of Birjand Longitudinal Aging Study (BLAS).

BACKGROUND: Frailty is the most complicated expression of aging that is related to disability or multi-morbidity. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of frailty and its associated factors among community-dwelling aged population. METHODS: A total of 1529 eligible community- dwelling older adults (≥ 60 years) were enrolled in the baseline phase of Birjand Longitudinal Aging Study (BLAS) from 2019 to 2020. Their frailty status was assessed using the Fried's frailty phenotype and frailty index. Sociodemographic factors, including sex, age, marital status, and education level, were collected. Health status assessment included the history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's diseases and dementia, and other health conditions. Furthermore, functional assessment (ADL, IADL) and anthropometric measurements including height, weight, waist, calf, and mid-arm circumference were made and the body mass index was calculated. The nutrition status and polypharmacy (use 3 or more medication) were also evaluated. RESULTS: The prevalence of frailty was 21.69% according to the frailty phenotype and 23.97% according to the frailty index. A multiple logistic regression model showed a strong association between low physical activity and frailty phenotype (OR = 36.31, CI = 16.99-77.56, P < 0.01), and frailty index (OR = 15.46, CI = 5.65-42.34, P < 0.01). Other factors like old age (≥80), female sex, malnutrition, polypharmacy, obesity, and arthritis were also associated with frailty. The Kappa coefficient of the agreement between these two instruments was 0.18. CONCLUSION: It seems that low physical activity is the most important determinant of frailty. Low physical activity and some other factors may be preventable or modifiable and thus serve as clinically relevant targets for intervention.

The conceptual and practical definitions of frailty in older adults: a systematic review.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to review and extract all publications containing concepts related to definitions of frailty and categorize them. METHODS: A total of six electronic databases (PubMed, Ovid web, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest) were searched to identify studies that introduced a definition of frailty up to October 2018. No language restrictions were imposed. RESULTS: Totally, 104,370 papers were found in the initial search and finally 68 papers were included. Of these, 21 studies provided a conceptual definition and 50 original articles also 9 review articles provided a practical definition. Moreover, 12 papers had both definitions of frailty. Of them, 62 were published in English, 2 in Portuguese, 1 in Japanese, 2 in Korean, and 1 in German languages. CONCLUSION: Many screening tools have been developed but neither of them can cover a wide range of parameters at the same time, nor do they have simplicity in the execution. It is important to note that although a more or less general consensus on one single definition might be expected, we believe that the elderly population is too heterogeneous to allow a tool to address it as a whole, and such a definition may even be impossible. Therefore, in the absence of a "Gold Standard" definition, it is suggested to seek accurate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each definition and choose the most appropriate definition and the most effective evaluation tool according to the purpose of the research and the characteristics of the older population.