Frailty and Associated Factors in the Elderly: A Cross-sectional Study from a Tertiary Care Hospital of Northeast India

Abstract

Background: Despite the unfavorable impact of frailty on the health of the elderly, research on frailty in Northeast India remains scarce. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of frailty among elderly inpatients and identify associated factors. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 200 elderly (above 60 years of age) inpatients at a tertiary care hospital. A semistructured pro forma was used to collect data on sociodemographic details and other laboratory parameters. The Fried frailty phenotype was used to assess frailty. Quantitative data were presented as means ± standard deviation, whereas qualitative data were presented as frequency and percentages. The Chi-square/Fisher’s exact test was applied to determine the association, and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The majority of the study participants were male, <70 years, and had a caretaker at home. The proportion of frail among the hospitalized elderly was 50% (95% confidence interval = 42.87%–57.13%). The rest 49.5% were categorized as robust and 0.5% were categorized as prefrail. Frailty was significantly associated with increased age, status of presence of caretaker, addiction, and higher body mass index. Comorbidities such as hypertension, chronic kidney disease, stroke, anemia, diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, and malignancy were also significantly associated. Conclusions: Frailty is a significant concern among hospitalized elderly individuals. Further research is needed to identify effective interventions to alleviate its impact. Community-level studies should elucidate the relationship between modifiable risk factors and frailty, aiming to enhance the quality of life for our aging population.

Keywords

• elderly
• frailty
• inpatients
• risk factor