The frailty syndrome in general practitioner care: a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
Knowledge about frailty among patients seen by general practitioners (GP) is currently limited.


METHODS
Frailty assessment by the criteria of Fried and additional documentation was performed at a GP's office.


RESULTS
Out of 119 participating patients, 14.3% were classified as frail, 52.1% as prefrail, and 33.6% as not frail. Frailty was associated with comorbidity, the number of drugs prescribed, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and frequency of falls.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of frailty is high among the cohort of elderly persons seen by a GP. Routine frailty assessment will help to direct preventive and therapeutic interventions.
Drey
M
M
Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Klinikum Nürnberg, Prof-Ernst-Nathan-Str 1, 90419 Nürnberg, Deutschland. michael.drey@gmx.de
Wehr
H
H
Wehr
G
G
Uter
W
W
Lang
F
F
Rupprecht
R
R
Sieber
C C
CC
Bauer
J M
JM
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D013577:Syndrome
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