Prevalence of frailty and associated factors in Korean older women: The KLoSA study

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of frailty in older women and its associated factors using data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA). The level of frailty was moderate/severe in 20.2% of the women. Age, socioeconomic status, and depressive symptoms were significantly associated with all levels of frailty. Sensory function and grip strength were associated with both mild and moderate/severe frailty. The only factors associated with moderate/severe frailty were marriage status and regular exercise. Understanding the risk factors of frailty may help health care providers to deliver tailored interventions to prevent this condition and its adverse outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Elderly
• frail
• prevalence
• women

Funding

This work was supported by the Gachon University research fund of 2014.