Limits to deficit accumulation in elderly people.
We evaluated limits to the accumulation of deficits (symptoms, diseases, disabilities) for 33,069 people aged 65+ years. We combined deficits in a frailty index (theoretical range 0-1) and found that the 99% limit varied little between samples, representing a frailty index value of about 0.65 +/- 0.05. This near-maximum shows no relationship with age. It is the same in community and institutional samples, even though the mean value is much higher in the latter. The data suggest a level of frailty beyond which, even in developed countries, further deficit accumulation is not sustainable.
Rockwood
Kenneth
K
Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. Kenneth.Rockwood@dal.ca
Mitnitski
Arnold
A
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical