The journal of nutrition, health & aging

, Volume 20, Issue 1, pp 82–88 | Cite as

Understanding risk in the oldest old: Frailty and the metabolic syndrome in a Chinese community sample aged 90+ years

  • Q. Hao
  • X. Song
  • M. Yang
  • Birong Dong
  • Kenneth Rockwood
Article
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Objectives

To investigate the relationship between frailty and the metabolic syndrome and to evaluate how these contribute to mortality in very old people.

Design

Secondary analysis of data from the Project of Longevity and Aging in Dujiangyan.

Setting

Community sample from Sichuan Province, China.

Participants

People aged 90+ years (n=767; baseline age=93.7±3.4 years; 68.0% women.

Measurements

After a baseline health assessment, participants were followed for four years (54.0% died). A frailty index (FI) was calculated as the sum of deficits present, divided by the 35 health-related deficits considered. Relationships between the FI and the metabolic syndrome were tested; their effect on death was examined.

Results

The mean FI was 0.26 ±0.11. Higher FI scores were associated with a greater risk of death, adjusted for age, sex, education, and metabolic syndrome items. The hazard ratio was 1.03 (95% confidence interval 1.02, 1.04) for each 1% percent increase of the FI. The mortality risk did not change with the metabolic syndrome (odds ratio=0.99; 0.71-1.36).

Conclusions

In the oldest old, frailty was a significant risk for near-term death, regardless of the metabolic syndrome. Even using age-adjusted models, the epidemiology of late life illness may need to account for frailty routinely.

Keywords

Deficit accumulation frailty index metabolic syndrome mortality frailty 
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Copyright information

© Serdi and Springer-Verlag France 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Q. Hao
    • 1
    • 2
  • X. Song
    • 2
  • M. Yang
    • 1
  • Birong Dong
    • 1
  • Kenneth Rockwood
    • 2
  1. 1.The Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, West China HospitalSichuan UniversityChengduChina
  2. 2.Department of MedicineDalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova ScotiaCanada

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