Table 1.

Frailty-defining criteria: Women’s Health and Aging Studies (WHAS) and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS)

Characteristics	CHS	WHAS
1. Weight loss	Baseline: Lost > 10 pounds unintentionally in last year Follow-up: (weight in previous year-current weight)/(weight in previous year)≥0.05 and the loss was unintentional	Baseline: Either of: (weight at age 60–weight at exam )/(weight at age 60)≥0.1 BMI at exam < 18.5. Follow-up: Either of : BMI at exam < 18.5 (weight in previous year-current weight)/(weight in previous year)≥0.05 and the loss was unintentional
2. Exhaustion	Self report of either of: felt that everything I did was an effort in the last week could not get going in the last week	Self report of any of: low usual energy level1 (<=3, range 0-10) felt unusually tired in last month2 felt unusually weak in the past month2
3.Low Physical Activity	Women: Kcal < 270 on activity scale (18 items) Men: Kcal < 383 on activity scale (18 items)	Women: Kcal < 90 on activity scale (6 items) Men: Kcal< 128 on activity scale (6 items)
4. Slowness	walking 15 feet (4.57m) at usual pace Women:   time >= 7 s for height <= 159 cm   time >= 6 s for height > 159 cm Men:   time >= 7 s for height <= 173 cm   time >= 6 s for height > 173 cm	walking 4m at usual pace Women:   speed <= 4.57/7 m/s for height <= 159 cm   speed <= 4.57/6 m/s for height > 159 cm Men:   speed <= 4.57/7 m/s for height <= 173 cm   speed <= 4.57/6 m/s for height > 173 cm
5. Weakness	Grip strength Women: <= 17 kg for BMI <= 23     <=17.3 kg for BMI 23.1 - 26     <= 18 kg for BMI 26.1 - 29     <= 21 kg for BMI > 29 Men:     <= 29 kg for BMI <= 24     <= 30 kg for BMI 24.1 - 26     <= 30 kg for BMI 26.1 - 28     <= 32 kg for BMI > 28	Grip strenth: Same as in CHS

¹Rated on 0-10 scale, where 0 = “no energy” and 10 = “the most energy that you have ever had.”

²If yes, there followed questioning “how much of the time” the feeling persisted; responses “most” or “all” of the time were considered indicative of exhaustion.