Epidemiological status and associated factors of frailty and pre-frailty in older adults with asthma in China: A national cross-sectional study

Xue-Zhai Zeng; Ling-Bing Meng; Na Jia; Jing Shi; Chi Zhang; Ying-Ying Li; Xing Hu; Jia-Bin Hu; Jian-Yi Li; Di-Shan Wu; Hui Li; Xin Qi; Hua Wang; Qiu-Xia Zhang; Juan Li; De-Ping Liu

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1136135

Epidemiological status and associated factors of frailty and pre-frailty in older adults with asthma in China: A national cross-sectional study

Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 3:11:1136135. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1136135. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xue-Zhai Zeng¹, Ling-Bing Meng¹, Na Jia¹, Jing Shi², Chi Zhang³, Ying-Ying Li¹, Xing Hu⁴, Jia-Bin Hu⁴, Jian-Yi Li¹, Di-Shan Wu¹, Hui Li¹, Xin Qi¹, Hua Wang¹, Qiu-Xia Zhang⁵, Juan Li⁶, De-Ping Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cardiology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
² Department of Geriatrics, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ The Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing Hospital/National Center of Gerontology of National Health Commission, Beijing, China.
⁴ Health Service Department of the Guard Bureau of the Joint Staff Department, Beijing, China.
⁵ China Research Center on Ageing, Beijing, China.
⁶ Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Objective: There are few studies on the prevalence and factors associated with frailty and pre-frailty in older adults with asthma worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the epidemiological status and factors associated with frailty and pre-frailty in older adults with asthma in China.

Research design and methods: Data were obtained from the Sample Survey of Aged Population in Urban and Rural China in 2015, a nationwide cross-sectional survey covering 224,142 older people aged 60 years or older in 31 provinces/autonomous regions/municipalities in mainland China. We performed frailty and pre-frailty assessments using the frailty index, and the diagnosis of asthma in the older adults was self-reported based on the history of the physician's diagnosis.

Results: Nine thousand four hundred sixteen older adults with asthma were included in the study. The age-sex standardized prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty in Chinese older adults with asthma was 35.8% (95% CI 34.8%-36.7%) and 54.5% (95% CI 53.5%-55.5%). Multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that increased age, female, illiteracy, living alone, poor economic status, ADL disability, comorbid chronic diseases, previous hospitalization in the past year, and residence in northern China were associated with frailty and pre-frailty in older adults with asthma.

Conclusion: The prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty in Chinese older adults with asthma is very high, and assessment of frailty should become routine in the management of older adults with asthma. Appropriate public health prevention strategies based on identified risk factors for frailty in older adults with asthma should be developed to reduce the burden of frailty in Chinese older adults with asthma.

Keywords: China; asthma; frailty; older adults; pre-frailty; prevalence.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Asthma* / epidemiology
China / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Frailty* / epidemiology
Humans
Risk Factors

Grants and funding

The present study was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant nos. 2020YFC2003000 and 2020YFC2003001). The study sponsors were not involved in the design of the study, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, writing the report, or the decision to submit the report for publication.