Table 3.
Frailty Status and Recovery From Disability
| Recovery From ADL Disability* Relative Risk (95% CI) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiovascular Health Study N = 1,023 |
|||
| N (%) | Unadjusted | Adjusted† | |
| Frailty | |||
| Nonfrail | 289 (28.3) | Ref. | Ref. |
| Prefrail | 613 (59.9) | 0.80 (0.71, 0.89) | 0.84 (0.75, 0.95) |
| Frail | 121 (11.8) | 0.54 (0.42, 0.70) | 0.64 (0.49, 0.84) |
| Health and Retirement Study N = 685 |
|||
| Unadjusted | Adjusted c | ||
| Frailty | |||
| Nonfrail | 199 (28.2) | Ref. | Ref. |
| Prefrail | 384 (54.5) | 0.69 (0.56, 0.86) | 0.86 (0.69, 1.08) |
| Frail | 122 (17.3) | 0.39 (0.25, 0.59) | 0.59 (0.40, 0.88) |
Notes: ADL = activities of daily living; CI = confidence interval.
*No difficulty in any ADLs within 1 year (2 years for the HRS cohort) after the onset of incident disability.
bAdjusted for clinical site (Bowman Gray, Johns Hopkins, Davis, and Pittsburgh), age, sex, race (white, others), education (less than high school, high school or equivalent, more than high school), smoking status (current, former, never), body mass index (<25.0, 25.0–30.0, >30.0), history of heart disease (coronary heart disease and heart failure), hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis, self-rated health (excellent/very good, good/fair/poor), cognitive function measured by the modified mini-mental status examination, and severity of incident ADL disability (difficulty in one ADL vs difficulty in two or more ADLs). p-value for interactions disability severity × prefrail vs nonfrail=0.671, disability severity × frail vs nonfrail=0.995.
cAdjusted for age, sex, race (white, others), education (less than high school, high school or equivalent, more than high school), smoking status (current, former, never), body mass index (<25.0, 25.0–30.0, >30.0), history of heart disease (heart attack, coronary heart disease, angina, heart failure, or other heart problems), hypertension, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis, self-rated health (excellent/very good, good/fair/poor), cognitive function measured by the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status, and severity of incident ADL disability (difficulty in one ADL vs difficulty in two or more ADLs). p-value for interactions disability severity × prefrail vs nonfrail=0.271, disability severity × frail vs nonfrail = 0.465.