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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Prevalence, attributes and outcomes of fitness and frailty in community-dwelling older adults
— report from the Canadian Study of Health and Aging | | Author(s) | Kenneth Rockwood, Susan E Howlett, Chris MacKnight |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 59A, no 12, December 2004 |
| Pages | pp 1310-1317 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Physical disabilities ; Ill health ; Keeping fit ; Exercise ; Correlation ; Longitudinal surveys ; Canada. |
| Annotation | Population samples of the prevalence, attributes and outcomes of frailty and fitness in older people are limited. The authors report data from the (n=9008) community-dwelling sample of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA), a representative 5-year prospective cohort study. Fitness and frailty were determined by self-reported exercise and function level and testing of cognition. 171 per 1000 were very fit and 12 per 1000 were very frail. Frailty increased with age, so that by age 85+, 44 per 1000 were very frail. The risk of adverse health outcomes increased markedly with frailty. Compared with older adults, those who were moderately or severely frail had a relative risk for institutionalisation of 8.6 or of death of 7.3. These risks persist after adjustments for age, sex, comorbid conditions and poor self-rated health. At all ages, men reported higher levels of exercise and less frailty compared to women. Decreased fitness and increased frailty were also associated with poor self-ratings of health and more social isolation. Fitness and frailty form a continuum and predict survival. Exercise influences survival, even in old age. Relative fitness and frailty can be determined quickly in a clinical setting or potentially useful markers of the risk for adverse health outcomes, and add value in traditional medical assessments that focus on diagnosis. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-050425211 A |
| Classmark | BN: CH: CE: CEA: 49: 3J: 7S |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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