Lally Frank, Crome Peter
Keele University Medical School, City General Hospital, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK.
Postgrad Med J. 2007 Jan;83(975):16-20. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.2006.048587.
The term "frailty" is used loosely to describe a range of conditions in older people, including general debility and cognitive impairment. There is no clear consensus on the definition of frailty; however, it is proposed that frailty comprises a collection of biomedical factors which influences an individual's physiological state in a way that reduces his or her capacity to withstand environmental stresses. Only a subset of older people are at risk of becoming frail; these are vulnerable, prone to dependency and have reduced life expectancy. These health outcomes contribute to an increased demand for medical and social care, and are associated with increased economic costs. As demographic trends indicate a rise in the older population, this healthcare burden will increase. This review aims to encapsulate the current debate surrounding the concept of frailty, with emphasis on proposed definitions of frailty which may be relevant to its identification in the clinical setting.
“衰弱”一词被宽泛地用于描述老年人的一系列状况，包括全身虚弱和认知障碍。目前对于衰弱的定义尚无明确共识；然而，有人提出衰弱由一系列生物医学因素构成，这些因素以降低个体承受环境压力能力的方式影响其生理状态。只有一部分老年人有衰弱的风险；这些人很脆弱，容易产生依赖，预期寿命缩短。这些健康结果导致对医疗和社会护理的需求增加，并与经济成本上升相关。随着人口趋势显示老年人口增加，这种医疗负担将会加重。本综述旨在概括当前围绕衰弱概念的争论，重点是可能与在临床环境中识别衰弱相关的衰弱定义。
