Abstract

Objective:  Between 2000 and 2050 the number of inhabitants aged 60 years or older in the World and in Costa Rica will double. A considerable number of them will become frail. Studies have shown the relationship between the frailty condition and poor outcomes. The aim of this study was to identify the adverse outcomes of frailty in the older Costa Rican population.

Methods:  To carry out the analysis, all the available cases of the CRELES study database in 2005 which belong to the cohort that follows in the period 2005-2009 were used. In the year of the initial cohort there was a total of 2827 patients. A frailty phenotype was constructed based on the phenotypic model. A longitudinal analysis was conducted, and it examined the initial and final years of this cohort. The outcome variables analysed were mortality, hospital admittances, functional deterioration, falls, and self-perception of worsening health in the year 2009. A multinomial logistic regression technique was used, using outcome variables as dependent variables. The frailty condition was used as an independent variable. As a result, there was an odds ratio obtained for the incidence of each outcome category with 95% confidence.

Results:  Frailty was associated with functional declines, hospital admittances, and worsening of the self-perception.

Conclusion:  Frailty was related to adverse outcomes in Costa Rica. Identifying this provides an opportunity for an early intervention.

Keywords: frailty; outcomes; incidence; elderly; older population