Age- and sex-specific associations of frailty with mortality and healthcare utilization in community-dwelling adults from ontario, Canada.
BMC Geriatr
; 24(1): 223, 2024 Mar 04.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38438981
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Understanding how health trajectories are related to the likelihood of adverse outcomes and healthcare utilization is key to planning effective strategies for improving health span and the delivery of care to older adults. Frailty measures are useful tools for risk stratification in community-based and primary care settings, although their effectiveness in adults younger than 60 is not well described.METHODS:
We performed a 10-year retrospective analysis of secondary data from the Ontario Health Study, which included 161,149 adults aged ≥ 18. Outcomes including all-cause mortality and hospital admissions were obtained through linkage to ICES administrative databases with a median follow-up of 7.1-years. Frailty was characterized using a 30-item frailty index.RESULTS:
Frailty increased linearly with age and was higher for women at all ages. A 0.1-increase in frailty was significantly associated with mortality (HR = 1.47), the total number of outpatient (IRR = 1.35) and inpatient (IRR = 1.60) admissions over time, and length of stay (IRR = 1.12). However, with exception to length of stay, these estimates differed depending on age and sex. The hazard of death associated with frailty was greater at younger ages, particularly in women. Associations with admissions also decreased with age, similarly between sexes for outpatient visits and more so in men for inpatient.CONCLUSIONS:
These findings suggest that frailty is an important health construct for both younger and older adults. Hence targeted interventions to reduce the impact of frailty before the age of 60 would likely have important economic and social implications in both the short- and long-term.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Frailty
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
BMC Geriatr
Journal subject:
GERIATRIA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Canadá