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. 2020 Aug 17;20:294. doi: 10.1186/s12877-020-01695-5

Table 1.

Operational definition of physical frailty phenotype

Frailty Phenotype Measurement Men Women
Weakness Grip strength [16] (stratified by sex and BMI [kg/m2], maximum value of either hand)

BMI ≤ 20.6: grip strength ≤25.2 kg

BMI 20.6–23.2: grip strength ≤28.5 kg

BMI 23.2–25.9: grip strength ≤30.0 kg

BMI > 25.9: grip strength ≤30.0 kg

BMI ≤ 20.0: grip strength ≤15 kg

BMI 20.0–22.1: grip strength ≤17.5 kg

BMI 22.1–24.8: grip strength ≤17.8 kg

BMI > 24.8: grip strength ≤20.0 kg

Slowness Walking speed (5 m) [16] (stratified by sex, averaged value of two repeated measurements)

Height ≤ 163 cm: ≥ 0.90 m/s

Height > 163 cm: ≥ 0.96 m/s

Height ≤ 151 cm: ≥ 0.72 m/s

Height > 151 cm: ≥ 0.86 m/s

Low level of physical activity Self-reported: Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (9 items) Score of physical activity per week < 56.4 points [18] Score of physical activity per week < 58.8 points [18]
Shrinking Unintentional weight loss In the last year, self-report of losing more than 5 kg unintentionally (i.e., not due to dieting or exercise) or unintentional weight loss of at least 5% of body weight
Exhaustion Two items of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale

a) I felt that everything I did was an effort.

b) I could not get going.

The question asked, “how often in the last week did you feel this way?” 0 = rarely or none of the time (< 1 day), 1 = some or a little of the time (1–2 days), 2 = a moderate amount of the time (3–4 days), or 3 = most of the time.

Subjects answering “2” or “3” to either of these two questions were categorized as being exhausted.

Overall frailty status Non-frail: 0 affected criteria; pre-frail: 1–2 affected criterion; frail: ≥ 3 affected criterion.

BMI Body mass index