OBJECTIVES To construct and validate a frailty index (FI) that is clinically sensible and practical for geriatricians by basing it on a routinely used comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) instrument. DESIGN Secondary analysis of a 3-month randomized, controlled trial of a specialized mobile geriatric assessment team. SETTING Rural Nova Scotia. Participants were seen in their homes. PA...

BACKGROUND Gender, social conditions, and health throughout the life course affect functional health in later life. This article addresses two specific hypotheses: i) life-course social and health conditions are associated with frailty; and ii) differential exposure and/or vulnerability of women and men to life-course conditions may account for gender differences in frailty. METHODS Data orig...

BACKGROUND Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common and critical complication after cardiac surgery. However, the relationship between POD and postoperative physical frailty and the effect of both on long-term clinical outcomes have not been fully explored. OBJECTIVE We aimed to examine the associations among POD, postoperative frailty, and major adverse cardiac events (MACE). DESIGN This w...

BACKGROUND The level of frailty in the older population across age cohorts and how this changes is a factor in determining future care costs and may also influence the extent of socioeconomic and gender inequalities in frailty. METHODS We model cohort-specific trajectories in frailty among the community dwelling population older than 50 years, using five waves (2002-2010) of the English Longi...

Frailty is a geriatric syndrome associated with physical decline with aging. Using a proteomics-based screening method to screen plasma for potential biomarkers, we previously found inflammatory glycoproteins to be increased with frailty. The purpose of this study was to confirm if plasma levels of these glycoproteins, as well as of interleukin-6, are increased with frailty in a larger sample (...

Purpose: To investigate the association of standard measures of frailty to visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. Methods: Time to walk a measured course, handgrip strength, peak expiratory flow rate, ability to stand from a sitting position without using arms, best-corrected visual acuity, and contrast sensitivity were assessed at the third examination (1998-2000) of the Beaver Dam Eye Study....

OBJECTIVES To measure relative fitness and frailty in older people without specific frailty instruments and to relate that measurement to long-term health outcomes. DESIGN Retrospective cohort studies. SETTING Two population-based studies of people aged approximately 70 at baseline and followed up to 10 years (in the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA)) or 26 years in the Gothenburg H...

BACKGROUND Readmissions after hospital discharge are common and costly, but prediction models are poor at identifying patients at high risk of readmission. We evaluated the impact of frailty on readmission or death within 30 days after discharge from general internal medicine wards. METHODS We prospectively enrolled patients discharged from 7 medical wards at 2 teaching hospitals in Edmonton....

BACKGROUND The frailty syndrome is as a well-established condition of risk for disability. Aim of the study is to explore whether a physical activity (PA) intervention can reduce prevalence and severity of frailty in a community-dwelling elders at risk of disability. METHODS Exploratory analyses from the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders pilot, a randomized controlled trial ...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Heart failure patients have high levels of frailty and dependence. Our aim was to determine the impact of frailty and depressive symptoms on the 1-year mortality rate and the rate of hospitalization for heart failure during a follow-up period of 1 year. METHODS All patients underwent geriatric evaluation, and frailty and depressive symptoms were identified. The stu...