Prevalence of Frailty and according to lifestyle and socioeconomic factors in people over 50 years Bukan 2017

Abstract

Background: Iran is facing the ageing of the population which has provided significant health care challenges due to a range of physical and mental morbidities. There is limited information about the prevalence and predictors of fraily among ethnic minoroty older adults in Iran. This study aimed to examine the impact of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors on the prevalence of frailty, among older Kurdish people living in the Northwest of Iran. Methods: People aged 50+ were invited via phone to participate in a population-based cross-sectional study from Oct 2017 to Dec 2018. Those who accepted the invitation and completed the baseline questionnaire were included in this study (N = 1201). A range of different factors, including sociodemographic and lifestyle factors as well as Tilberg Frailty Index (TFI), was obtained by trained interviewers. Descriptive analysis and logistic regression were performed to compare the prevalence of frailty according to different factors.

Results: A total of 1201 person contributed to this study. The mean age of participants was 59.2±8.0, the majority (81%) were less than 65 years of

age. Of them 61% were women, 87% were married and living with their spouses, and 61% were illiterate. The overall prevalence of frailty was 45.3% In a fully adjusted model, age>60 (Odds Ratioadj=1.36, 95% Confidence Interval: 1.00-1.85), sex (ORadj=2.09, 95%CI: 1.57-2.77) and obesity (ORadj= 1.76 95%CI: 1.24-2.49), self-rated health fair/poor (ORadj=2.20, 95%CI: 1.62-2.99), two or more medical conditions (ORadj=1.95, 95%CI: 1.42-2.67) were associated with the higher prevalence of frailty. The prevalence of frailty was lower among those with higher education level and physical activitry. Conclusions: This study found that the prevalence of frailty is relatively high among older Kurdish adults. Sociodemographic differences in the prevalence of frailty might be of interest to the health care system.