Intellectual Disability Medicine, Department of General Practice, Erasmus University Center Rotterdam, P.O. Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Res Dev Disabil. 2013 May;34(5):1541-55. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.01.029. Epub 2013 Mar 5.
Although there is no strict definition of frailty, it is generally accepted as a state of high vulnerability for adverse health outcomes at older age. Associations between frailty and mortality, dependence, and hospitalization have been shown. We measured the frailty level of older people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Furthermore variation in gender, age, and level of ID were identified. Results were compared to a frailty study in the general European population.
This research elaborates on a large cross-sectional study: Healthy Ageing with Intellectual Disability (HA-ID). Nine hundred-eighty-two men and women (≥ 50 yr) with ID were included. Based on the collected data, we developed a frailty index with 51 health-related deficits, and calculated a frailty index score between 0 and 1 for each individual. Deficits included physical, social and psychological problems.
The mean frailty index score was 0.27 (standard deviation .13). Frailty was positively correlated with age (r=0.297, p<.001). More severe ID was associated with higher frailty scores (β=0.440, p<001). The upper limit of the FI was 0.69, which was consistent for all age categories.
As people with ID are getting older, the question whether additional years are spent in good health becomes salient. Here, people with ID over age 50 had frailty scores similar to most elderly people over 75 y. Future research is needed to confirm if frail elderly people with ID have an increased risk of adverse health outcomes.
虽然虚弱没有严格的定义，但它通常被认为是老年人健康不良结局的高脆弱状态。已经证明虚弱与死亡率、依赖性和住院治疗之间存在关联。我们测量了智障（ID）老年人的虚弱程度。此外，还确定了性别、年龄和 ID 水平的变化。结果与一般欧洲人群的虚弱研究进行了比较。
这项研究详细阐述了一项大型横断面研究：智障人士的健康老龄化（HA-ID）。纳入了 982 名（≥50 岁）男性和女性 ID 患者。根据收集的数据，我们开发了一个包含 51 个与健康相关缺陷的虚弱指数，并为每个个体计算了 0 到 1 之间的虚弱指数得分。缺陷包括身体、社会和心理问题。
平均虚弱指数评分为 0.27（标准差为 0.13）。虚弱与年龄呈正相关（r=0.297，p<.001）。更严重的 ID 与更高的虚弱评分相关（β=0.440，p<001）。FI 的上限为 0.69，适用于所有年龄组。
随着智障人士年龄的增长，是否能在健康状况良好的情况下多活几年的问题变得尤为重要。在这里，50 岁以上的 ID 患者的虚弱评分与大多数 75 岁以上的老年人相似。需要进一步研究以确认是否患有 ID 的虚弱老年人有增加不良健康结果的风险。
