Frailty risk in community-dwelling elderly assisted in Primary Health Care and associated factors

Abstract

This is a cross-sectional quantitative study whose aim was to estimate the risk of frailty in community-dwelling elderly people and their associated factors. The sample consisted of 179 elderly people from Family Health Units in the city of Recife / PE. Frailty was assessed using the Clinical-Functional Vulnerability Index. Socio-demographic data, cognitive assessment, physical activity levels and nutritional risk / malnutrition corresponded to the independent variables. The prevalence of frailty found among the elderly in this study was 13%. The independence test was significant according to gender (p-value = 0.025), age (p-value <0.001), social security status (p-value = 0.017) and in elderly with impaired cognitive ability and malnutrition (p-value < 0,001). Concerning the risk of developing frailty, the elderly between 71 and 80 years old have almost eight times the risk (OR = 8.88); in the age group of 81 to 90 years, the risk is superior nine times (OR = 9.69); aged people with nutritional risk are almost three times (OR = 2.83), and malnutrition increases by almost five times (OR = 5.48) the risk of frailty. The instrument used in the study is favorable to the identification of frailty in the elderly, favoring the promotion of strategies for