Frailty prevalence and factors associated with the Frailty Phenotype and Frailty Index: Findings from the North West Adelaide Health Study

ObjectiveTo determine the prevalence of frailty and associated factors in the North West Adelaide Health Study (2004-2006) using the Frailty Phenotype (FP) and Frailty Index (FI). MethodsFrailty was measured in 909 community-dwelling participants aged 65 years using the FP and FI. ResultsThe FP classified 18% of participants as frail and the FI 48%. The measures were strongly correlated (r = 0.76, P < 0.001) and had a kappa agreement of 0.38 for frailty classification, with 37% of participants classified as non-frail by the FP being classified as frail by the FI. Being older, a current smoker, and having multimorbidity and polypharmacy were associated with higher frailty levels by both tools. Female, low income, obesity and living alone were associated with the FI. ConclusionFrailty prevalence was higher when assessed using the FI. Socioeconomic factors and other health determinants contribute to higher frailty levels. Practice Impact: It is important to be aware that there is only modest agreement between two of the most common measures used to determine frailty. Factors associated with frailty included older age, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, being female, low income, living alone, obesity and smoking.