Factors Associated with Frailty in Chronically Ill Older Adults

Abstract

An ex post facto analysis of a secondary dataset examined relationships between physical frailty, depression, and the self-perceived domains of health status and quality-of-life in older adults. The randomized sample included 992 community-dwelling, chronically ill, and functionally impaired adults age 65 and older who received care from a Southern California Kaiser Permanente medical center between 1998 and 2002. Physical frailty represents a level of physiologic vulnerability and functional loss that results in dependence on others for basic, daily living needs (Fried et al., 2001). The purpose of the study was to identify possible intervention junctures related to self-efficacy of older adults in order to help optimize their functionality. Multivariate correlation analyses showed statistically significant positive correlations between frailty level and depression (r = .18; p = < .05), number of medical conditions (r = .09; p = < .05), and self-rated quality-of-life (r = .24; p = < .05). Frailty level showed a statistically significant negative correlation with self-perceived health status (r = −.25; p = < .05). Notably, no statistically significant correlation was found between age and frailty level (r = −.03; p = < .05). In linear regression, self-perceived health status had a partial variance with frailty level (part r = −.18). The significant correlations found support further research to identify interventions to help vulnerable, older adults challenge self-perceived capabilities so that they may achieve optimum functionality through increased physical activity earlier on, and increased self-efficacy to support successful adaptation to aging-related losses.

KEYWORDS:

• frail elderly
• geriatrics
• self-efficacy
• successful aging
• ADLs
• depression
• functionality
• learned helplessness
• health care costs
• community-based care