Frailty level among the elderlies in urban and rural area of Bao-ding city

Objective To explore the prevalence and difference of frailty among urban and rural elderlies of various age in Baoding municipality.Methods A total of 1 049 residents aged 65 years or above were selected from urban and rural areas of Baoding city for a questionnaire survey.Results The average physical frailty index(PFI) for the elderly aged 65-69,70-74,75-79,and≥80 years were 0.345,0.379,0.448,and 0.552 in the urban area and 0.448,0.483,0.517,and 0.552 in the rural area,respectively; the indexes demonstrated an increasing trend with the increment of age in the elderly.For the elderly aged 65-69,70-74,75-79,and≥80 years in the urban and rural area,the average mental frailty indexes(MFI) were 0.200,0.400,0.400,and 0.500 and 0.200,0.300,0.300,and 0.300,and the overall frailty indexes were 0.282,0.384,0.462,and 0.538 and 0.385,0.436,0.462,and 0.462,respectively; the overall frailty indexes also showed an increasing trend with the increment of age.For the urban elderly aged 65-69 and 75-79 years,the PFI was lower in the males than in the females but the MFI was higher in the males than in the females; for the rural elderly aged 65-69 and≥80 years,the PFI was lower in the males than in the females and the MFI was lower in the males aged 65-69 years than in the females of the same ages.Compared to the rural elderly of the same gender and age groups,both the urban males and females aged 65-69 and 70-74 years had a lower PFI; the urban males aged 75-79 and≥80 years had a higher MFI than the rural elderly of same age and the urban females aged≥80 years had a higher MFI than the rural females of the same age.Conclusion There are age differences in physical and mental frailty among urban and rural elderly in Baoding city.