title: The prevalence and psychosocial characteristics of the frail elderly in Japan: a community-based study.
abstract: There is insufficient epidemiological data about frail elders in Japan. Few studies concerning the relationship between psychosocial characteristics and frailty exist in the literature. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and to explore the characteristics of the frail elderly in a community of Japan by cross-sectional and case-control studies. Data were collected from a total of 2,310 non-institutionalized persons aged 65 years or older, by mail survey and interview. We defined frailty as a precursor of disability. The prevalence of frail elders was estimated at 6.1%. After controlling for age and gender, multiple logistic regression analyses disclosed that frail elders displayed significantly higher emotional reliance on another person, worsening self-efficacy, fair or poor subjective health, and poor functional ability than independent elders, and significantly higher self-efficacy than bedridden elders. The most noticeable finding in this study was the significant association of psychosocial factors with frailty among the community-dwelling elderly. Based on our study results, we suggest that when controlling physical variables, psychosocial variables might strongly affect the frail status among elderly persons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Japan. himuta@med.id.yamagata-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imuta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasumura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fukao
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000523:psychology*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005852:Geriatric Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence