Work

Prevalence of frailty and associated factors in Shanghai older community-dwelling adults: a cross-sectional study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Frailty is recognised as an emerging public health priority. However, there is still a lack of large-sample, well-designed clinical observational studies investigating frailty status among multidistrict community-dwelling older adults in Shanghai. Therefore, this study aims to establish a large-sample prospective cohort in Shanghai, investigate the frailty status of multidistrict community-dwelling older adults, analyse the characteristics of the frail population and explore potential risk factors for frailty in older adults. DESIGN: The present study was a cross-sectional analysis embedded within an ongoing prospective population-based cohort study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 2950 residents (≥65 years) from 9 subdistricts were recruited. MEASURES: We used a stratified cluster random sampling method to obtain a representative sample of older adults in Shanghai. All participants completed paper questionnaires during face-to-face interviews and underwent physical examinations conducted by the investigation team. RESULTS: Our results showed that the overall age-standardised prevalence of frailty was 9.91% (95% CI 9.50% to 10.31%). Prevalence was 8.30% (95% CI 6.84% to 9.76%) in men and 9.93% (95% CI 8.85% to 11.01%) in women. Advancing age, female sex, lower education level and comorbidities were significantly associated with frailty among community-dwelling older adults. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and public health efforts to reduce the burden of frailty in China should devote greater attention to older women, particularly those with multiple comorbidities, and prioritise community-based frailty screening and prevention initiatives. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2000039491.

Source: BMJ Open

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095371