Association of the FRAIL Scale with Geriatric Syndromes and Health-Related Outcomes in Korean Older Adults.

BACKGROUND

Owing to the growing older population, appropriate tools are needed for frailty screening in community-dwelling older people. We investigated the association between geriatric conditions and health-related outcomes using the five-item Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses, & Loss of Weight (FRAIL) scale in a Korean rural community setting.

METHODS

We performed comprehensive geriatric assessments, including the FRAIL scale, in 1,292 community-dwelling people (mean age, 74.6 years) in the Aging Study of Pyeongchang Rural Area. These populations were prospectively followed up for 3 years to analyze the outcomes of death, institutionalization, disability, and quality of life. We investigated the association between frailty status and outcomes using the FRAIL scale.

RESULTS

According to the FRAIL scale, 524 (36.5%) participants were prefrail and 297 (23.0%) were frail. According to the adjusted model, the degree of frailty status was significantly associated with concurrent geriatric syndromes and 3-year incidences of mortality, institutionalization, and disability; Kaplan-Meier analysis showed significant differences in 3-year survival based on frailty status (92.6% for robust, 85.7% for prefrail, and 74.2% for frail; log-rank p<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The five-item FRAIL scale can be used to screen for accompanying geriatric syndromes and is associated with the 3-year health-related outcomes in community-dwelling Korean older adults. From the public health perspective, this simple screening tool for frailty assessment might be applicable to older populations in Korea.