Association between diabetes complicated with comorbidities and frailty in older adults: A cross-sectional study

Aims and Objectives This study investigated the relationship between frailty and diabetes complicated with comorbidities. Background Frailty is a common geriatric syndrome, and older adults with diabetes are prone to frailty. Patients with diabetes and comorbidities might be at increased risk of developing frailty. Design A multicenter cross-sectional study. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify older patients with diabetes and comorbidities in the internal medicine departments of five tertiary general hospitals in Sichuan Province, China, from March 2020 to June 2021. We used the FRAIL scale to identify frailty, and multinomial logistic regression was used to compare sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidities of frail or pre-frail participants with robust participants. The STROBE checklist was used for this cross-sectional study. Results A total of 1652 patients (883 males, 53.5%) were included, and the prevalence of frailty was 26.5%. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that compared with robust patients, diabetic patients with hypertension, coronary heart disease, chronic cardiac failure, COPD, cerebrovascular diseases, osteoarticular diseases, chronic renal diseases, chronic gastrointestinal diseases and cancer were more likely to be frail. In addition, patients who engaged in less exercise, presented more comorbidities, were older and had lower education levels, were more prone to frailty. Conclusion There was a clear correlation between diabetes complicated with comorbidities and the development of frailty. Appropriate personalised care levels for patients with diabetes and comorbidities, and early screening for frailty might reduce the prevalence of frailty in these patients. Relevance to clinical practice This study provided information for healthcare providers to identify circumstances that increase the risk of frailty and more effectively support patients with diabetes and comorbidities.