title: The frailty syndrome: definition and natural history.
abstract: This article reviews the current state of knowledge regarding the epidemiology of frailty by focusing on 6 specific areas: (1) clinical definitions of frailty, (2) evidence of frailty as a medical syndrome, (3) prevalence and incidence of frailty by age, gender, race, and ethnicity, (4) transitions between discrete frailty states, (5) natural history of manifestations of frailty criteria, and (6) behavior modifications as precursors to the development of clinical frailty.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 2024 East Monument Street, Suite 2-700, Baltimore, MD 21205-1179, USA. qxue@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Qian-Li
authors.initials: QL
authors.lastname: Xue
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D001247:Asthenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019021:Natural History; D010641:Phenotype; D015995:Prevalence; D013577:Syndrome; D013997:Time Factors