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Table 3 The Relationship between the likelihood of frailty and different variables – a univariate analysis

From: Estimated frailty prevalence among Israeli elderly – results from a cross sectional national survey

 

Variable

Total population (n = 1619)1

Robust (n = 609; 37.6%)

Pre-frail (n = 930; 57.4%)

Frail (n = 80; 4.9%)

P among groups† ∗

Gender

Females (%)

52.9

36.0

62.4

71.3

< 0.0001 ∗

Age

Age (mean ± SD)

74.60 ± 6.12

73.86 ± 5.64

74.92 ± 6.34

76.53 ± 6.43

< 0.0001 ∗

Marital status

Married/with partner (%)

64.6

74.2

59.4

53.8

< 0.0001

Widowed (%)

27.7

19.4

32.3

36.3

Single (%)

2.5

1.3

3.4

1.3

Divorced (%)

4.4

4.4

4.0

8.8

Separated (%)

0.7

0.5

0.9

0.0

Religion ethnicity

Jewish (%)

84.3

89.1

80.6

90.0

< 0.0001

Arab Muslim (%)

8.1

4.0

11.2

3.8

Arab Christian (%)

5.7

4.0

6.9

5.0

Christian (not Arab) (%)

1.7

2.8

1.1

1.3

Druze (%)

0.2

0.2

0.2

0.0

Smoking

Current smoker (%)

11.0

9.6

12.0

10.0

0.026

Past smoker (%)

34.9

39.9

31.8

33.8

Non-smoker (%)

54.1

50.6

56.2

56.3

Employed/volunteered in the last 3 monthsa

% Do not work/volunteer

76.5

67.1

81.1

95.0

< 0.0001

Education

Education years (n = 1612)

10.80 ± 5.17

12.34 ± 4.70

9.91 ± 5.20

9.35 ± 5.52

< 0.0001 ∗

Incomeb

≤1744 NIS (%)

3.6

0.7

5.1

8.8

< 0.0001

1744+ NIS (%)

96.4

99.3

94.9

91.3

Physical function

Katz ADL score (mean ± SD)

5.61 ± 1.51

5.18 ± .83

5.75 ± 1.65

7.25 ± 2.20

< 0.0001 ∗

No functional limitations (Katz score < 6) (%)

81.04

93.27

76.88

36.25

< 0.0001

Some functional limitations (score 6–10) (%)

16.68

6.24

20.22

55.00

Several functional limitations (score 11–15) (%)

2.22

0.33

2.90

8.75

Mood (n = 1262)

GHQ score

6.45 ± 2.91

5.82 ± 2.98

6.75 ± 2.79

7.94 ± 2.60

< 0.0001 ∗

Negligible disturbance (score 0–3) (%)

18.5

24.2

15.4

9.1

< 0.0001

Moderate disturbance (score 4–8) (%)

61.8

63.5

62.3

43.9

Severe disturbance (score 9–12) (%)

19.7

12.3

22.3

47.0

Cognitive function

Age-adjusted MMSE score

30.84 ± 3.48

30.87 ± 2.68

30.86 ± 3.84

30.24 ± 4.37

0.766

Cognitive impairment (MMSE< 24)c

3.6

1.3

4.5

10.0

< 0.0001

Clinical and metabolic

BMI (mean ± SD; kg/m2)

29.18 ± 4.81 (n = 1514)

29.26 ± 4.08 (n = 595)

29.24 ± 5.17 (n = 857)

27.47 ± 5.72 (n = 62)

< 0.0001*

Osteoporosis presence (%)

25.6

13.3

31.4

52.5

< 0.0001 ∗

Physician diagnosed hypertension (%)

57.8

57.0

57.2

71.3

0.044

Physician diagnosed diabetes (%)

28.2

21.2

30.1

58.8

< 0.0001

  1. † = χ2 test for categorical variables and analysis of variance for continuous variables – among frailty categories (robust, pre-frail, frail)
  2. ∗ = P for trend across groups for continuous variables (p < 0.01) using Jonckheere non-parametric trend test
  3. 1- The original data set included 1852 subjects of whom 217 did not have sufficient data to assess frailty. Another 16 subjects had higher risk for cognitive dysfunction (MMSE< 17) which may have resulted in report bias. Therefore, they were also excluded
  4. aComparison of subjects who do not work to those who work
  5. bIncome lower than 1744 NIS/person/month was defined as the poverty line
  6. cCognitive impairment is considered as any MMSE score below 24 (but ≥17) and was compared to MMSE score ≥ 24
  7. Abbreviations: ADL Activities of daily living, BMI Body mass index, GHQ general health questionnaire, MMSE Mini mental state examination, SD Standard deviation
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Israel Journal of Health Policy Research

ISSN: 2045-4015