The purpose of this study was to identify the independent components of physical frailty that most influence disability indicators in institutionalized older women. A cross-sectional study with 319 participants (81.96±7.89 years old) was performed. Disability was assessed through dynamic and static balance tests, activities of daily life and falls risk screen. Fried physical frailty protocol was used to access physical frailty. The frail subgroup displayed the weakest results for all disability indicators (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed that in the two models tested, low physical activity levels and slowness were the physical frailty independent components that better associated with the disability indicators. More studies with larger samples will help to better understand the independent relationship of each physical frailty component with disability outcomes and assist to design a co-adjuvant treatment to reverse physical frailty.
Keywords: Frail older adults; activities of daily living; disability evaluation; falls; motor skills.