Transition between frailty levels in elderly persons from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Abstract Objective: To observe possible changes in frailty phenotype classification over time. Method: 40 individuals of both genders aged over 65 years, living in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and identified in a base line Rede FIBRA assessment as frail, who could walk independently or with the aid of devices and who had no illnesses that would prevent tests being carried out, , were considered. A standardized survey previously established by Rede FIBRA was administered. Results: The initial sample was composed of 40 individuals with a mean age of 78.03 (±6.46) years. After 24 months, a follow up of the 22 individuals from the initial sample that could be found was performed. The frailty phenotype classification scores of the same 22 subjects from the two samples were compared. After comparing the groups, it was found that 16 individuals had a lower number of frailty phenotype positive items in the follow up, three had higher positive scores and there was no change in the score of three individuals between assessments (p=0.004). Conclusion: This study found that a large majority of individuals showed improvement in their frailty phenotype classification.摘要 研究目的：观察衰弱表型分类随时间推移的潜在变化。研究方法：纳入40名年龄65岁以上的男女受试者，均居住于米纳斯吉拉斯州贝洛奥里藏特都会区，基线时经Rede FIBRA评估确诊为衰弱，能够独立行走或借助辅助器具行走，且无妨碍测试进行的疾病。采用Rede FIBRA预先制定的标准化调研方案开展评估。研究结果：初始样本共40名受试者，平均年龄为78.03±6.46岁。随访24个月后，对初始样本中可成功追踪到的22名受试者进行随访评估。对该22名受试者两次评估的衰弱表型分类得分进行比较，结果显示：16名受试者随访时衰弱表型阳性条目数较基线降低，3名受试者得分升高，3名受试者得分无变化（p=0.004）。研究结论：本研究发现绝大多数受试者的衰弱表型分类结果得到改善。