Table.
Burden of Frailty and Geriatric Conditions in Older Adults Living in Rural versus Urban Communities in Korea
| ASPRA (Rural Communities) | KLoSHA (Urban Communities) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | Men % or mean (± SD) |
Women % or mean (± SD) |
Total % or mean (± SD) |
Men % or mean (± SD) |
Women % or mean (± SD) |
Total % or mean (± SD) |
| Sample size | 167 | 215 | 382 | 230 | 254 | 484 |
| Age, years | 73.7 (± 6.3) | 74.9 (± 6.6) | 74.4 (± 6.5) | 70.4 (± 4.6) | 71.0 (± 5.3) | 70.9 (± 5.2) |
| Education level, years* | 7.8 (± 5.0) | 3.1 (± 4.7) | 5.1 (± 5.3) | 8.6 (± 5.8) | 7.4 (± 5.5) | 7.9 (± 5.6) |
| Medical aid (monthly income < USD 500)* | 5.4 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 7.1 | 6.6 |
| Living alone | 12.6 | 30.7 | 22.8 | 14.3 | 17.3 | 15.9 |
| Frailty status by CHS criteria | ||||||
| Robust | 42.2 | 20.6 | 30.0 | 43.9 | 22.4 | 32.6 |
| Prefrail | 47.0 | 57.0 | 52.6 | 52.6 | 61.0 | 57.0 |
| Frail | 10.8 | 22.4 | 17.4 | 3.5 | 16.5 | 10.3 |
| Components of frailty | ||||||
| Exhaustion* | 26.3 | 38.6 | 33.2 | 15.7 | 31.1 | 23.8 |
| Low activity* | 19.8 | 20.0 | 19.9 | 20.4 | 26.8 | 23.8 |
| Slowness* | 5.4 | 10.7 | 8.4 | 16.5 | 36.2 | 26.9 |
| Weakness* | 30.7 | 66.7 | 50.9 | 9.5 | 22.0 | 15.8 |
| Weight loss* | 15.0 | 21.4 | 18.6 | 21.3 | 28.7 | 25.2 |
| Multimorbidity*† | 23.4 | 38.6 | 31.9 | 23.5 | 19.3 | 21.3 |
| ADL disability* | 10.8 | 18.1 | 14.9 | 3.5 | 7.1 | 5.4 |
| IADL disability* | 22.8 | 33.0 | 38.5 | 15.7 | 20.5 | 18.2 |
| Cognitive dysfunction (MMSE <24) | 16.8 | 46.0 | 33.4 | 15.2 | 46.1 | 31.4 |
| Depression (CES-D ≥21) | 8.0 | 18.7 | 14.1 | 7.0 | 22.4 | 15.1 |
| At risk for malnutrition (MNA <12 or NSI≥3) | 30.5 | 43.7 | 37.9 | 32.3 | 46.6 | 39.7 |
| Incontinence | 5.4 | 10.7 | 8.4 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 3.9 |
Abbreviations: ADL, activity of daily living; ASPRA, Aging Study of PyeongChang Rural Area; CES-D, Center for Epidemiological Study of Depression Scale score; CHS, Cardiovascular Health Study; IADL, instrumental activity of daily living; KLoSHA, Korea Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging; MMSE, Mini-Mental Status Examination score; MNA, Mini-Nutritional Assessment short form score; NSI, the Nutrition Screening Initiative score; SD, standard deviation; USD, United States dollar.
P < 0.05 comparing rural dwellers vs. urban dwellers after adjusting for age and sex
Multimorbidity was defined as having ≥2 chronic conditions among the following: angina, arthritis, asthma, cancer excluding minor skin cancer, chronic lung disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, heart attack, hypertension, kidney disease, and stroke.