Table 1.
Health Deficits Used to Construct a 34-Item Index of Frailty at Age 50 Years for Participants in the 1958 British Birth Cohort (n = 8,711), 2008
| Health Deficit Value a | Missing Data | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain and Health Variable | 0 | 1 | No. | % | ||
| No. | % | No. | % | |||
| Comorbidity | ||||||
| Asthma/wheezy bronchitisb | 7,878 | 90.44 | 833 | 9.56 | 0 | 0 |
| Type 2 diabetesb | 8,340 | 95.74 | 371 | 4.26 | 0 | 0 |
| Recurrent backache, prolapsed disc, or sciaticab | 7,221 | 82.90 | 1,490 | 17.10 | 0 | 0 |
| Body painc,d | 7,984 | 91.94 | 700 | 8.06 | 27 | 0.31 |
| High blood pressureb | 7,395 | 84.89 | 1,316 | 15.11 | 0 | 0 |
| Stomach issuesb,e | 7,987 | 96.86 | 259 | 3.14 | 465 | 5.34 |
| Kidney/bladder problemsb | 8,499 | 97.57 | 212 | 2.43 | 0 | 0 |
| Persistent cough/bringing up phlegmb | 8,349 | 95.84 | 362 | 4.16 | 0 | 0 |
| Sensory factorsb | ||||||
| Hearing problemsf | 7,868 | 90.32 | 843 | 9.68 | 0 | 0 |
| Eyesight problemsg | 8,441 | 97.11 | 251 | 2.89 | 19 | 0.22 |
| Cognitive functionh | ||||||
| Delayed recall of 10 words | 6,176 | 71.80 | 2,426 | 28.2 | 109 | 1.25 |
| Immediate recall of 10 words | 6,853 | 79.14 | 1,806 | 20.9 | 52 | 0.60 |
| No. of animals named in 1 minute | 6,402 | 73.93 | 2,257 | 26.1 | 52 | 0.60 |
| No. of accurately crossed out P’s and W’s in a letter grid | 6,442 | 75.57 | 2,082 | 24.4 | 187 | 2.15 |
| General health | ||||||
| Self-rated general healthi | 1,731 | 19.88 | 455 | 5.23 | 3 | 0.03 |
| Self-rated health compared with 1 year agoj | 7,420 | 85.18 | 193 | 2.22 | 0 | 0 |
| Health limiting social activities (e.g., visiting friends, relatives)k | 8,307 | 95.71 | 372 | 4.29 | 32 | 0.37 |
| Expecting one’s health to get worsel | 6,715 | 94.10 | 510 | 5.90 | 61 | 0.70 |
| Mental health | ||||||
| Physical/emotional problems interfering with normal social activities with family, friends, groups, neighborsd,m | 7,972 | 91.80 | 712 | 8.20 | 27 | 0.31 |
| Feeling so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you upn | 8,469 | 97.37 | 229 | 2.63 | 13 | 0.15 |
| Having seen a doctor or specialist or having been to a hospital because one was feeling low, depressed, or sad (and was still symptomatic)b | 8,404 | 96.50 | 305 | 3.50 | 2 | 0.02 |
| Having seen a doctor or specialist or having been to a hospital because one was feeling generally anxious or jittery (and was still symptomatic)b | 8,564 | 98.32 | 146 | 1.68 | 1 | 0.01 |
| Physical functiono | ||||||
| Moderate physical activities (e.g., pushing vacuum, moving table, bowling, playing golf) | 8,241 | 94.70 | 461 | 5.30 | 9 | 0.10 |
| Lifting groceries | 8,257 | 94.95 | 439 | 5.05 | 15 | 0.17 |
| Climbing 1 flight of stairs | 8,353 | 96.09 | 340 | 3.91 | 18 | 0.21 |
| Bending, kneeling, and stooping | 8,025 | 92.22 | 677 | 7.78 | 9 | 0.10 |
| Walking 100 yards (91.4 m) | 8,365 | 96.14 | 336 | 3.86 | 10 | 0.11 |
| Bathing | 8,444 | 96.99 | 262 | 3.01 | 5 | 0.06 |
| Fatigued | ||||||
| Having a lot of energyp | 8,179 | 94.05 | 518 | 5.96 | 14 | 0.16 |
| Feeling worn outq | 7,992 | 91.90 | 704 | 8.10 | 15 | 0.17 |
| Feeling full of lifer | 8,326 | 95.73 | 371 | 4.27 | 14 | 0.16 |
| Feeling tireds | 8,323 | 95.71 | 373 | 4.29 | 15 | 0.17 |
| Sleep | ||||||
| Amount of time usually needed to fall asleept | 8,152 | 93.76 | 543 | 6.24 | 16 | 0.18 |
| Getting enough sleep to feel rested upon waking in the morningd,u | 8,097 | 92.99 | 610 | 7.01 | 4 | 0.05 |
a All variables were self-reported and were given a score of 1 (deficit present) or 0 (deficit absent). Deficits that included an intermediary response (e.g., “sometimes” or “a little”) were assigned a score between 0 and 1 as appropriate.
b 0 = no; 1 = yes.
c 0 = none, very mild, mild, or moderate; 1 = severe or very severe.
d In the past month.
e Stomach issues included gallstones, gastric ulcer, acid reflux, diverticulitis, hernia, tumor, and cancer.
f Hearing problems included hearing loss in 1 or both ears, tinnitus, Ménière disease, age-related degeneration, and inability to hear certain noises.
g Eyesight problems included diabetes-associated eye disease, glaucoma, cataract, macular degeneration, low vision, and blindness.
h 0 = upper 3 quartiles; 1 = lowest quartile.
i 0 = excellent (n = 1,731 (19.9%)); 0.25 = very good (n = 2,906 (33.4%)); 0.5 = good (n = 2,544 (29.2%)); 0.75 = fair (n = 1,072 (12.3%)); 1 = poor (n = 455 (5.2%)).
j 0 = much better/the same (n = 7,420 (85.2%)); 0.5 = worse (n = 1,098 (12.6%)); 1 = much worse (n = 193 (2.2%)).
k 0 = a good bit/some/a little/none of the time (n = 8,307 (95.7%)); 1 = all/most of the time (n = 372 (4.3%)).
l 0 = don’t know/mostly false/definitely false (n = 6,715 (77.6%)); 0.5 = mostly true (n = 1,425 (16.5%)); 1 = definitely true (n = 510 (5.9%)).
m 0 = not at all/slightly/moderately (n = 7,972 (91.8%)); 1 = quite a bit/extremely (n = 712 (8.2%)).
n 0 = a good bit/some/a little/none of the time (n = 8,469 (97.4%)); all/most of the time (n = 229 (2.6%)).
o 0 = limited a little/not limited; 1 = limited a lot.
p 0 = all/most/some of the time (n = 7,159 (82.3%)); 0.5 = a little of the time (n = 1,021 (11.7%)); 1 = none of the time (n = 518 (6.0%)).
q 0 = a good bit of the time/some of the time/a little of the time/none of the time (n = 7,992 (91.9%)); 1 = all/most of the time (n = 704 (8.1%)).
r 0 = all/most of the time/a good bit of the time/some of the time/a little of the time (n = 8,326 (95.7%)); 1 = none of the time (n = 371 (4.3%)).
s 0 = a good bit of the time/some of the time/a little of the time/none of the time (n = 8,323 (95.7%)); 1 = all/most of the time (n = 373 (4.3%)).
t 0 = 1 hour or less (n = 8,152 (93.8%)); 1 = over 1 hour (n = 543 (6.2%)).
u 0 = all/most/a good bit/some/a little bit of the time (n = 8,097 (93.0%)); 1 = none of the time (n = 610 (7.0%)).