Status and influencing factors of frailty of the elderly in different regions

HU Yina; FENG Ying; LI Hongyan; FANG Fuqing; YU Yimei; ZOU Yanhui

doi:10.12102/j.issn.2095-8668.2025.04.014

Abstract：Objective: To analyze the current status of frailty in elderly inpatients in three different regions—Xining City, Qinghai Province (northwest), Changsha City, Hunan Province (central), and Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province (south)—and to explore its influencing factors, providing references for disease prevention, control, and treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, selecting 430 elderly inpatients aged ≥60 years from three general hospitals in three different regions between October 2022 and May 2023. General information questionnaires, health status questionnaires, and the Vulnerable Elderly Survey-13 (VES-13) were used to investigate the elderly inpatients. Logistic regression analysis was employed to explore the influencing factors of frailty in elderly inpatients. Results: Among the 430 elderly inpatients, 132 had frailty, with a prevalence rate of 30.70%. The prevalence rates of frailty in the southern, central, and northwestern regions were 12.8%, 31.5%, and 50.7%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that advanced age, lower educational level, poor hearing and vision, comorbid chronic diseases, use of assistive devices, and smoking were risk factors for frailty in elderly inpatients (P < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) indicated that the use of assistive devices and the number of medications had good diagnostic value for frailty in elderly inpatients in Changsha (AUCs of 0.759 and 0.730, respectively), while the use of assistive devices and smoking had certain diagnostic value for frailty in elderly inpatients in Shenzhen (AUCs of 0.610 and 0.558, respectively). Meanwhile, the number of chronic diseases and hearing conditions had certain diagnostic value for frailty in elderly inpatients in Xining (AUCs of 0.593 and 0.601, respectively). Conclusion: Targeted and reasonable management measures for the elderly based on regional characteristics can reduce the incidence of frailty.