Burden of frailty and its correlates among the elderly: a cross-sectional study in a rural community of West Bengal

Context:With the ageing of Indian society, providing a healthy life among older people is a public health precedence. Therefore, beforehand discovery and possible forestalment of frailty may help promote healthy ageing and dwindle the social, mental and financial burden of their families and caregivers.Aims:The study aimed to assess the proportion of frailty and its associated factors among the elderly aged 65 years and above in a rural community of West Bengal.Settings and Design:A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 270 elderlies selected from 15 villages out of a total 64 villages of Singur under the Hooghly District of West Bengal from January 2019 to February 2020.Materials and Methods:Cluster sampling technique was used. Data was collected using a pre-designed, pre-tested structured schedule including Fried frailty phenotype (FFP), geriatric depression scale short form (GDS 15) and mini nutritional assessment (MNA) tool.Statistical Analysis Used:Associated factors of frailty were assessed by univariate and multivariable logistic regression using SPSS version 16 software and MS Excel 2019.Results:The proportion of frailty was observed to be 23.7% and that of prefrailty 40.7%. Frailty was significantly associated with increasing age [AOR(CI) 1.2(1.1-1.3)], decreasing years of schooling [AOR(CI) 1.3(1.1-1.5)], loss of spouse [AOR(CI) 4.2(1.2-15.2)], financial dependency [AOR(CI) 19.3(2.7-139.0)], staying at home [AOR(CI) 16.3(2.7-98.2)], presence of anaemia [AOR(CI) 3.6(1.3-9.5)], at risk of malnutrition [AOR(CI) 6.5(1.9-22.3)], increasing number of falls in the last 1 year [AOR(CI) 4.3(1.2-15.6)], presence of 3 or more chronic diseases [AOR(CI) 154.7(12.1-1981.9)] and depression [AOR(CI) 8.3(2.5-27.0)].Conclusion:The burden of frailty among the study population is relatively high. It's an intimidating situation that needs bettered screening provisions for early discovery with special stress on nutritive upliftment. Screening for depression should also be done regularly.