Frailty is a decrease in the body's ability to handle stress and is a predictor of poor outcomes.
Frailty is an increasingly recognized geriatric syndrome. It is a chronic and progressive process described as an age-related decline in physical function and reserve in multiple body systems. It can be manifested in many ways, including decreased strength, balance, nutrition, poor thinking skills, mobility, endurance, and physical activity. Although there is no specific medical definition of frailty, Webster's dictionary defines frail as weak and vulnerable. Most simply put, frailty is a decrease in the body's ability to handle stress and is a predictor of poor outcomes.
Frailty is just as common as Alzheimer's disease and the risk increases with age. 7-12% of adults aged 65 and older, and 40% aged 90 and older suffer from frailty. Women are at increased risk of developing frailty, and African Americans are two times more likely to be frail than Caucasian older adults.
A study in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society found that older adults had a higher risk of death when they suffered from frailty, depression and loneliness combined.
Frail older adults are at a higher risk from stressors such as infection, hospitalization, and surgery. Frail older adults are more likely to have delayed recovery, be hospitalized, develop functional impairment (dependency), and die.
The core component of primary frailty is decreased lean muscle mass. Low muscle mass can be caused by a reduced ability of the body to produce certain hormones. Other factors leading to reduced muscle mass include decreased exercise, poor nutrition, and advancing age. An older adult is more likely to suffer from clinical frailty as they experience problems with multiple systems. The presence of multiple abnormal systems, increases the likelihood of developing clinical frailty.
Secondary frailty is defined as a combination of multiple disease states that become the overall picture of frailty. Secondary frailty is the most common type of frailty. Frailty is almost unavoidable in certain disease states such as severe heart failure, severe kidney disease, severe COPD, uncontrolled diabetes, and advanced cancer. Most conditions that increase a person's likelihood of developing frailty can be controlled and/or prevented with healthy lifestyle choices.
Men and Women Can show different signs of frailty
A man may notice they are less active or have decreased strength, whereas a woman's first sign of frailty could be incontinence. Although there are different incontinence causes, one reason could be related to reduced walking speed and the inability to make it to the bathroom on time. Decreased walking speed can increase a person's risk of falling, which is another sign of frailty. Research suggests women with incontinence would benefit from geriatric consultation.
Frailty is a predictor of falling, consider reading a short blog from Golden Oak Medicine on Falls.
The earlier a health care provider can detect frailty signs, the easier it is to intervene and hopefully reverse some of the processes.
Geriatricians are particularly good at recognizing signs of frailty. A Geriatrician evaluates frailty be performing a comprehensive geriatric assessment. A comprehensive geriatric assessment includes history taking, measure of independence and dependence, functional status, review of medications, fall history, review of multiple disease states, and a physical examination. A comprehensive geriatric assessment can often take up to two hours.
Independence to dependence is a spectrum. Completely independent means a person can take care of themselves without any help from others. Initially, we may need more help with things like laying out medications, driving, and managing finances. Later on, our families and friends may notice frailty signs like slowing down or decreased activity. As we continue down the spectrum, we may need help with more basic activities like dressing, bathing, walking, moving around, toileting, and possibly feeding ourselves.
The risk of developing medical problems increases with aging; this can further increase the risk of losing independence and relying on others for help. By managing medical problems well, we may be able to maintain independence longer. Any geriatrician's goal is to keep their patients functional and independent for as long as possible.
Weight Loss, unintentional, more than 10 pounds in one year
Inability to perform tasks due to exhaustion
Decreased walking speed
Decreased Activity Level
Weakness, a good measure is decreased hand strength
Keeping Active! Try to exercise 3-5x a week. A recent study suggests that increasing step count by 1000 steps a day, which is about 10 minutes of activity, could prevent frailty. For best results, strength, balance, and flexibility regimens should be combined with cardiovascular exercise. The National Institutes on Aging at NIH has a great free booklet with sample exercise routines called Workout to Go.
Keep up good nutritional habits; studies suggest that a Mediterranean diet can prevent frailty. The American Heart Association has good information on the Mediterranean diet.
Keep your medical issues under good control! Persons with chronic medical problems should take their medications as directed. Talk to a health care provider about stopping any un-needed medications, read our post, Am I Taking Too Much Medicine.
I hope you found this post to be helpful, recognizing signs of frailty is the first step to maintaining independence. Talk to your health care provider, or consider consultation with a geriatrician.
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Golden Oak Medicine PLLC is a primary care practice located in Asheville, NC. We are board certified geriatricians providing primary care services for adults 55 years and older.
