Frailty in older adults: evidence for a phenotype
Fried LP · Tangen CM · Walston J · Newman AB · Hirsch C · Gottdiener J · Seeman T · Tracy R · Kop WJ · Burke G · McBurnie MA · Cardiovascular Health Study Collaborative Research Group
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences · 2001
What the research tells us
Fried and colleagues define a frailty phenotype using weight loss, exhaustion, weak grip, slow gait and low activity, with three or more criteria indicating frailty. Its associations with later death, hospitalisation and functional decline offer an operational framework for vulnerability in older adults; it does not directly measure dynamic recovery after a stressor.
Scope & interpretation
Observational design, available cohort variables, some self-report and disease exclusions limit generalisation. Table 7 gives a three-year falls HR of 1.29 (95% CI 1.00–1.68), P=.054; not every endpoint was significant. Sex/body-size-specific thresholds require checking before application.
Study at a glance
- POPULATION & SAMPLE
- 5,317 community-dwelling CHS adults aged ≥65 in two recruitment cohorts; frailty prevalence was 6.9%.
- EXPOSURE / INTERVENTION / SUBJECT
- Five phenotype criteria: one or two indicate an intermediate state, three or more frailty, compared with non-frail participants.
- OUTCOMES
- Three-year adjusted HRs: mortality 2.24 (1.51–3.33), hospitalisation 1.29 (1.09–1.54), ADL worsening 1.98 (1.54–2.55); falls interpreted separately.
- TIME FRAME
- Recruitment cohorts followed for seven and four years; the cited Table 7 estimates concern three years.
Editorial & review record
Record for v1.0 · Updated
Editorial responsibility: TAP Editorial Team
Scientific review
Not yet scientifically reviewed
Editorial note
Under the editorial responsibility of the TAP Editorial Team, this publication used AI assistance for content organization and editing. Scientific review is recorded separately on this page.
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How responsibilities and review are recorded ↗Scope of this reading note
Original PDF pages M146–M154. The sex-, BMI- and height-specific threshold appendix remains to be checked item by item.
- Study funding
- Multiple NHLBI/NIH Cardiovascular Health Study contracts, detailed in the article.
- Competing interests
- The separate competing-interest statement has not been verified.
Project support
Founded and supported by Resilio.
Revision history
- · v1.0
Added the frailty phenotype and prospective outcomes, distinguishing static vulnerability from recovery and preserving uncertainty in falls.