Prevalence and Associated Factors of Frailty Among Elderly People in Taiwan

Abstract

Background: Frailty has begun to attract attention in recent years because it is associated with adverse health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of frailty in elderly people in Taiwan and to examine the associated factors. Methods: Data were extracted from a representative subsample of “The Coming of an Aging Society: An Integrative Study on Social Planning in Taiwan in 2025” that comprised 495 older adults. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between frailty status and individual factors, health conditions, environmental factors, and activities. Results: Among all the participants, 45.9% were classified as “nonfrail”, 45.9% exhibited “prefrailty”, and 8.3% were “frail”. After controlling for the dependent variables, the factors significantly influencing prefrailty were age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.07, p < 0.001], diabetes (OR = 2.18, p < 0.01), depressive syndrome (OR = 3.66, p < 0.001), and the number of activities in which the participants were involved (OR = 1.24, p < 0.05). The factors significantly influencing frailty were age (OR = 1.14, p < 0.001), non-Fukien ethnicity (OR = 3.01, p < 0.05), depressive syndrome (OR = 6.89, p < 0.001), diabetes (OR = 2.69, p < 0.05), and the number of activities in which the participants were involved (OR = 2.39, p < 0.001). Conclusion: To prevent a decline in the functions of elderly people, the results of this study should be referenced when developing intervention strategies in which preventive actions are implemented to aid elderly people with particular risk factors such as diabetes, depression, and infrequent participation in social activities.

Keywords

• depression
• diabetes
• elderly
• frail
• social activity