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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2019 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Epidemiology. 2018 Jul;29(4):556–561. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000833

Table 1.

Demographic characteristics and prevalence of claims-based predictors of dependency in activities of daily living by predicted probability and phenotypic frailty, ARIC participants (n=3146) (2010–2013).

Overall Predicted probability of dependency Phenotypic frailty



<5% 5%–<20% ≥ 20% Robust Pre-frail Frail
N=3146 N=2162 N=841 N=143 N=1345 N=1585 N=216
Frailty components; N (%)
 Unintentional weight loss 669 (21) 357 (17) 255 (30) 57 (43) 0 (0.0) 540 (35) 129 (60)
 Exhaustion 296 (9) 140 (7) 120 (14) 36 (26) 0 (0.0) 214 (14) 82 (38)
 Low physical activity 481 (16) 289 (14) 163 (20) 29 (25) 0 (0.0) 345 (23) 136 (63)
 Low grip strength 820 (27) 479 (23) 295 (38) 46 (48) 0 (0.0) 637 (44) 183 (86)
 Slow walk speed 473 (16) 217 (10) 200 (26) 56 (61) 0 (0.0) 306 (21) 167 (79)
Age group; N (%)
 65–69 311 (10) 270 (13) 39 (5) 2 (1) 181 (14) 125 (8) 5 (2)
 70–74 1123 (36) 907 (42) 190 (23) 26 (18) 583 (43) 483 (31) 57 (26)
 75–79 866 (28) 635 (29) 200 (24) 31 (22) 367 (27) 450 (28) 49 (23)
 80–84 619 (20) 316 (15) 259 (31) 44 (31) 173 (13) 375 (24) 71 (33)
 ≥ 85 227 (7) 34 (2) 153 (18) 40 (28) 41 (3) 152 (10) 34 (16)
White; N (%) 2457 (78) 1769 (82) 594 (71) 94 (66) 1069 (80) 1211 (76) 177 (82)
Female; N (%) 1872 (60) 1212 (56) 559 (67) 101 (71) 755 (56) 971 (61) 146 (68)
Claims; N (%)
 Arthritis 1400 (45) 758 (35) 527 (63) 115 (80) 523 (39) 749 (47) 128 (59)
 Bladder Dysfunction 254 (8) 98 (5) 116 (14) 40 (28) 86 (6) 140 (9) 28 (13)
 Stroke/brain injury 116 (4) 19 (1) 61 (7) 36 (25) 23 (2) 75 (5) 18 (8)
 Skin Ulcer 67 (2) 5 (0) 36 (4) 26 (18) 7 (1) 47 (3) 13 (6)
 Dementia 202 (6) 22 (1) 109 (13) 71 (50) 40 (3) 134 (9) 28 (13)
 Heart Failure 287 (9) 79 (4) 142 (17) 66 (46) 71 (5) 169 (11) 47 (22)
 Hypotension/Shock 76 (2) 18 (1) 37 (4) 21 (15) 24 (2) 44 (3) 8 (4)
 Lipid Abnormality 2173 (69) 1527 (71) 541 (64) 105 (73) 921 (69) 1098 (69) 154 (71)
 Paralysis 25 (1) 0 (0) 5 (1) 20 (14) 4 (0) 16 (1) 5 (2)
 Parkinson’s Disease 30 (1) 4 (0) 13 (2) 13 (9) 7 (1) 21 (1) 2 (1)
 Podiatric Care 243 (8) 71 (3) 131 (16) 41 (29) 65 (5) 152 (10) 26 (12)
 Psychiatric Illness 454 (14) 123 (6) 237 (28) 94 (66) 124 (9) 267 (17) 63 (29)
 Rehabilitation Care 244 (8) 124 (6) 86 (10) 34 (24) 69 (5) 138 (9) 37 (17)
 Cancer Screening 1487 (47) 1221 (57) 240 (29) 26 (18) 699 (52) 707 (45) 81 (38)
 Vertigo 299 (10) 203 (9) 73 (9) 23 (16) 108 (8) 157 (10) 34 (16)
 Weakness 237 (8) 61 (3) 107 (13) 69 (48) 57 (4) 141 (9) 39 (18)
 Ambulance 237 (8) 48 (2) 114 (14) 75 (53) 58 (4) 137 (9) 42 (19)
 Home Hospital Bed 10 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 10 (7) 0 (0) 9 (1) 1 (1)
 Home Oxygen 59 (2) 4 (0) 30 (4) 25 (18) 14 (1) 35 (2) 10 (5)
 Wheelchair 20 (1) 0 (0) 2 (0) 18 (13) 0 (0) 15 (1) 5 (2)

Abbreviations: SD=standard deviation

Sample size for frailty components varies: weight loss (N=3127), exhaustion (N=3123), physical activity (N=3042), grip strength (N=3001), walk speed (N=2984)