Table 1.
Characteristics of the sample according to frailty status, robust versus non-robust (pre-frail and frail state)
| Total (n = 749) | Robust (n = 183) | Non-robust (n = 566) | p-value | Effect size (Cohen’s h/d) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years), mean (SD)b | 75.8 | (SD 7.2) | 72.3 | (SD 5.1) | 76.8 | (SD 7.3) | < 0.0001** | d = − 0.659 |
| Sex, n (%)a | < 0.0001** | |||||||
| Men | 295 | (39.4%) | 105 | (57.4%) | 190 | (33.6%) | h = 0.466 | |
| Women | 454 | (60.6%) | 78 | (42.6%) | 376 | (66.4%) | h = − 0.467 | |
| Education, years, n (%)a | 0.047* | |||||||
| ≤ 8 | 451 | (60.2%) | 96 | (52.5%) | 355 | (62.7%) | h = −0.203 | |
| 9–17 | 179 | (23.9%) | 53 | (29.0%) | 126 | (22.3%) | h = 0.161 | |
| ≥ 18 | 119 | (15.9%) | 34 | (18.6%) | 85 | (15.0%) | h = 0.107 | |
| Marital status, n (%)a | < 0.0001** | |||||||
| Single | 56 | (7.5%) | 17 | (9.3%) | 39 | (6.9%) | h = 0.073 | |
| Married | 433 | (57.9%) | 129 | (70.5%) | 304 | (53.8%) | h = 0.353 | |
| Widowed | 230 | (30.7%) | 31 | (16.9%) | 199 | (35.2%) | h = −0.416 | |
| Divorced or separated | 29 | 3.9%) | 6 | (3.3%) | 23 | (4.1%) | h = −0.055 | |
| Who lives with you…?, n (%)a | ||||||||
| No one | 193 | (25.8%) | 31 | (16.9%) | 162 | (28.7%) | 0.002** | h = −0.287 |
| Spouse | 429 | (57.4%) | 127 | (69.4%) | 302 | (53.5%) | < 0.0001** | h = 0.310 |
| Children | 216 | (28.9%) | 58 | (31.7%) | 158 | (28.0%) | 0.333 | h = 0.088 |
| Grandchildren | 57 | (7.6%) | 15 | (8.2%) | 42 | (7.4%) | 0.735 | h = 0.038 |
| Parents | 15 | (2.0%) | 8 | (4.4%) | 7 | (1.2%) | 0.009** | h = 0.203 |
| Brothers and sisters | 24 | (3.2%) | 6 | (3.3%) | 18 | (3.2%) | 0.951 | h = 0.000 |
| Other relatives | 52 | (7.0%) | 15 | (8.2%) | 37 | (6.5%) | 0.446 | h = 0.038 |
| Non-related paid helper | 3 | (0.4%) | 0 | (0.0%) | 3 | (0.5%) | 0.323 | h = −0.451 |
| Others | 9 | (1.2%) | 0 | (0.0%) | 9 | (1.6%) | 0.086 | h = − 0.284 |
| Frequency of feelings of loneliness, n (%)a | 0.132 | |||||||
| Quite often | 43 | (5.8%) | 6 | (3.3%) | 37 | (6.6%) | h = −0.188 | |
| Sometimes | 127 | (17.0%) | 27 | (14.8%) | 100 | (17.8%) | h = −0.081 | |
| Almost never | 576 | (77.2%) | 150 | (82.0%) | 426 | (75.7%) | h = 0.147 | |
| Social Resources Rating, n (%)a | 0.448 | |||||||
| Excellent | 239 | (32.7%) | 66 | (36.5%) | 173 | (31.5%) | h = 0.105 | |
| Good | 321 | (43.9%) | 82 | (45.3%) | 239 | (43.5%) | h = 0.020 | |
| Mild Impairment | 103 | (14.1%) | 21 | (11.6%) | 82 | (14.9%) | h = −0.795 | |
| Moderate Impairment | 35 | (4.8%) | 7 | (3.9%) | 28 | (5.1%) | h = 0.256 | |
| Severe Impairment | 21 | (2.9%) | 4 | (2.2%) | 17 | (3.1%) | h = −0.064 | |
| Total Impairment | 12 | (1.6%) | 1 | (0.6%) | 11 | (2.0%) | h = − 0.084 | |
| How would you rate your quality of life?, n (%)a | 0.069 | |||||||
| Very poor | 3 | (0.4%) | 0 | (0.0%) | 3 | (0.5%) | h = −0.200 | |
| Poor | 15 | (2.0%) | 1 | (0.5%) | 14 | (2.5%) | h = −0.148 | |
| Neither poor nor good | 223 | (29.8%) | 47 | (25.7%) | 176 | (31.1%) | h = − 0.111 | |
| Good | 386 | (51.5%) | 96 | (52.5%) | 290 | (51.2%) | h = 0.040 | |
| Very good | 122 | (16.3%) | 39 | (21.3%) | 83 | (14.7%) | h = 0.157 | |
| How satisfied are you with your health?, n (%)a | 0.010* | |||||||
| Very dissatisfied | 9 | (1.2%) | 1 | (0.5%) | 8 | (1.4%) | h = 0.000 | |
| Dissatisfied | 28 | (3.7%) | 1 | (0.5%) | 27 | (4.8%) | h = − 0.251 | |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 134 | (17.9%) | 24 | (13.1%) | 110 | (19.4%) | h = −0.164 | |
| Satisfied | 424 | (56.6%) | 112 | (61.2%) | 312 | (55.1%) | h = 0.122 | |
| Very satisfied | 154 | (20.6%) | 45 | (24.6%) | 109 | (19.3%) | h = 0.145 | |
| Physical health- WHOQOL-BREF score, mean (SD)b | 14.1 | (SD 2.1) | 14.9 | (SD 1.9) | 13.8 | (SD 2.1) | < 0.0001** | d = 0.536 |
| Psychological WHOQOL-BREF score, mean (SD)b | 14.3 | (SD 1.9) | 14.7 | (SD 1.8) | 14.2 | (SD 2.0) | 0.005** | d = 0.256 |
| Social relationships WHOQOL-BREF score, mean (SD)b | 13.9 | (SD 2.5) | 14.1 | (SD 2.5) | 13.8 | (SD 2.5) | 0.207 | d = 0.120 |
| Environment WHOQOL-BREF score, mean (SD)b | 13.7 | (SD 1.8) | 13.7 | (SD 1.9) | 13.6 | (SD 1.8) | 0.563 | d = 0.055 |
WHOQOL-BREF World Health Organization Quality of Life- Brief Form; aChi-squared test. bt-test; *Significant (p-value) < 0.05; **Significant (p-value) < 0.01