Similarities Among Factors Associated With Components of Frailty in Elderly SABE Study

Objective: To analyze similarities among factors associated with the components of frailty in elderly. Method: We studied 1,413 elderly from the second wave of the SABE Study in 2006. Each of the five components of the frailty phenotype was considered a dependent variable in the hierarchical logistic regression models. Results: In both genders, age, schooling, sedentary lifestyle, and screening positive for depression were associated similarly with more than one component of frailty. Other similarities were also observed with stroke and screening positive for cognitive decline in men, and number of diseases and gait speed in women. The most similar associations happened between weakness and slowness; weakness, slowness, and LPAL; or weakness, slowness, and exhaustion. Discussion: Encouraging physical activity, screening for and treating depression and treating both diseases of the central nervous system and chronic diseases must be the focus of strategies to avoid, delay, or even remedy frailty.