Introduction: Studies have described varying prevalences of frailty as determined by Fried's frailty phenotype. Comparability may be limited due to frailty phenotype modifications, especially the low physical activity criterion.
Purpose: This study aimed to determine the variability of frailty phenotype prevalence according to the physical activity assessment method.
Patients and methods: In a cross-sectional analysis, frailty phenotype prevalence was assessed in community-dwelling older adults. The low physical activity criterion of the frailty phenotype was determined by using five different questionnaires and an accelerometer, and three different cut-point models.
Results: In 47 participants, frailty phenotype prevalence varied between 14.9% and 31.9%, depending on the model used to assess physical activity.
Conclusion: The method of physical activity assessment and the choice of cut-points for low physical activity considerably impact frailty phenotype prevalence. More efforts to standardize and adhere to the low physical activity criterion seem warranted. The calculation of correction factors between commonly used sets of low physical activity criteria might allow better comparisons of published prevalence rates.
Keywords: older adults; physical activity assessments; physical frailty.
© 2020 Ziller et al.