Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

OBJECTIVES: To test whether women aged 55 and older with increasing evidence of a frailty phenotype would have greater risk of fractures, disability, and recurrent falls than women who were not frail, across geographic areas (Australia, Europe, and North America) and age groups. DESIGN: Multinational, longitudinal, observational cohort study. SETTING: Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW). PARTICIPANTS: Women (N = 48,636) aged 55 and older enrolled at sites in Australia, Europe, and North America. MEASUREMENTS: Components of frailty (slowness and weakness, poor endurance and exhaustion, physical activity, and unintentional weight loss) at baseline and report of fracture, disability, and recurrent falls at 1 year of follow-up were investigated. Women also reported health and demographic characteristics at baseline. RESULTS: Women younger than 75 from the United States were more likely to be prefrail and frail than those from Australia, Canada, and Europe. The distribution of frailty was similar according to region for women aged 75 and older. Odds ratios from multivariable models for frailty versus nonfrailty were 1.23 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07-1.42) for fracture, 2.29 (95% CI = 2.09-2.51) for disability, and 1.68 (95% CI = 1.54-1.83) for recurrent falls. The associations for prefrailty versus nonfrailty were weaker but still indicated statistically significantly greater risk of each outcome. Overall, associations between frailty and each outcome were similar across age and geographic region. CONCLUSION: Greater evidence of a frailty phenotype is associated with greater risk of fracture, disability, and falls in women aged 55 and older in 10 countries, with similar patterns across age and geographic region.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/jgs.12146

Type

Journal article

Journal

J am geriatr soc

Publication Date

03/2013

Volume

61

Pages

327 - 334

Keywords

Accidental Falls, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Australia, Disabled Persons, Europe, Fatigue, Female, Fractures, Bone, Frail Elderly, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Middle Aged, Multivariate Analysis, North America, Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal, Phenotype, Physical Fitness, Risk, Weight Loss