Table 1.
Characteristics of community-dwelling older adults who attended general medical clinic.
| FRAIL scale | Clinical frailty scale | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All, N = 95 | Frail, N = 17 | Not frail, N = 78 | p | Frail, N = 21 | Not frail, N = 74 | p | |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |||
| Age (year)a | 71.0 (67.0–75.0) | 77 (68.5–84.0) | 69.5 (67.0–73.0) | 0.010 | 79.0 (72.5–84.0) | 69.0 (67.0–72.0) | <0.001 |
| Gender (female) | 45 (47.4%) | 8 (47.1%) | 37 (47.4%) | 0.977 | 10 (47.6%) | 35 (47.3%) | 0.979 |
|
| |||||||
| Ethnicity | |||||||
| Malay | 34 (35.8%) | 1 (5.9%) | 33 (42.3%) | 0.006 | 5 (23.8%) | 29 (39.2%) | 0.348 |
| Chinese | 42 (44.2%) | 9 (52.9%) | 33 (42.3%) | 12 (57.1%) | 30 (40.5%) | ||
| Indian | 19 (20.0%) | 7 (41.1%) | 12 (15.4%) | 4 (19.0%) | 15 (20.3%) | ||
|
| |||||||
| Educational level | |||||||
| Never attended school/primary school | 52 (54.7%) | 12 (70.6%) | 30 (38.5%) | 0.147 | 14(66.7%) | 38 (51.4%) | 0.213 |
| Secondary school/tertiary education | 43 (45.3%) | 5 (29.4%) | 38 (48.7%) | 7(33.3%) | 36 (48.6%) | ||
|
| |||||||
| Comorbidities | |||||||
| Hypertension | 80 (84.2%) | 17 (100%) | 63 (80.8%) | 0.065 | 19 (90.5%) | 61 (82.4%) | 0.509 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 53 (55.8%) | 15 (88.2%) | 38 (48.7%) | 0.003 | 16 (76.2%) | 37 (50.0%) | 0.033 |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 48 (50.5%) | 15 (88.2%) | 33 (42.3%) | 0.001 | 8 (38.1%) | 40 (54.1%) | 0.197 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 33 (34.7%) | 10 (58.8%) | 23 (29.5%) | 0.021 | 10 (47.6%) | 23 (31.1%) | 0.160 |
| Arthritis | 30 (31.6%) | 7 (41.2%) | 23 (29.5%) | 0.347 | 8 (38.1%) | 22 (29.7%) | 0.467 |
| Congestive cardiac failure | 23 (24.2%) | 10 (58.8%) | 13 (16.7%) | 0.001 | 8 (38.1%) | 15 (20.3%) | 0.092 |
| Stroke | 19 (20.0%) | 5 (29.4%) | 14 (17.9%) | 0.284 | 9 (42.9%) | 10 (13.5%) | 0.003 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Indexb | 5.0 (2.0) | 7.2 (2.1) | 4.8 (1.6) | <0.001 | 6.8 (2.2) | 4.8 (1.6) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||||
| IADLc | |||||||
| Lawton IADL Scalea | 7.0 (5.0–8.0) | 4.0 (2.0–7.0) | 7.0 (6.0–8.0) | 0.001 | 4.0 (1.0–4.0) | 8 (6.8–8.0) | <0.001 |
|
| |||||||
| Other geriatric syndromes and psychosocial issues | |||||||
| Visual impairment | 32 (33.7%) | 8 (47.1%) | 24 (30.8%) | 0.198 | 12 (57.1%) | 20 (27.0%) | 0.010 |
| Hearing impairment | 21 (22.1%) | 4 (23.5%) | 17 (21.8%) | 1.000 | 9 (42.9%) | 12 (16.2%) | 0.016 |
| Polypharmacy | 77 (81.1%) | 17 (100.0%) | 60 (76.9%) | 0.036 | 19 (90.5%) | 58 (78.4%) | 0.344 |
| Urinary incontinence | 13 (13.7%) | 4 (23.5%) | 9 (11.5%) | 0.24 | 7 (33.3%) | 6 (8.1%) | 0.007 |
| Fall ≥1 for the previous year | 19 (20.0%) | 4 (23.5%) | 15 (19.2%) | 0.74 | 7 (33.3%) | 12 (16.2%) | 0.120 |
| Admission ≥1 for the previous year | 21 (22.1%) | 8 (47.1%) | 13 (16.7%) | 0.011 | 7 (33.3%) | 14 (18.9%) | 0.231 |
| Low mood | 29 (30.5%) | 7 (41.2%) | 22 (28.2%) | 0.293 | 11 (52.4%) | 18 (24.3%) | 0.014 |
| Poor social support | 5(5.3%) | 2 (11.8%) | 3 (3.8%) | 0.217 | 1 (4.8%) | 4 (5.4%) | 1.000 |
|
| |||||||
| Blood parameters | |||||||
| Haemoglobin (g/dl)b | 12.7 (1.8) | 11.8 (2.0) | 12.9 (1.7) | 0.033 | 11.9 (2.0) | 12.9 (1.7) | 0.017 |
| Urea (mmol/L)a | 5.5 (4.3–7.3) | 8.0 (5.9–10.3) | 5.5 (4.1–6.7) | <0.001 | 7.2 (4.9–9.4) | 5.6 (4.3–6.8) | 0.032 |
| Albumin (g/L)b | 36.1 (4.2) | 32.9 (5.3) | 37.3 (3.5) | 0.005 | 32.5 (4.7) | 37.8 (3.3) | <0.001 |
aMedian (IQR), bmean (SD), cinstrumental activities of daily living.