title: Using the Short Physical Performance Battery to screen for frailty in young-old adults with distinct socioeconomic conditions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze the Short Physical Performance Battery's (SPPB) ability in screening for frailty in community-dwelling young elderly from cities with distinct socioeconomic conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Elderly (65-74 years-of-age) from Canada (Saint Bruno; n = 60) and Brazil (Santa Cruz; n = 64) were evaluated with the SPPB to assess physical performance. Frailty was defined as the presence of ≥ 3 of the following criteria: weight loss, exhaustion, weakness, mobility limitation and low physical activity. Linear regression and receiver operating characteristics analyses were carried out.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SPPB correlated with frailty (R(2) = 0.33), with better results for Saint Bruno. A cut-off of 9 in the SPPB had good sensitivity (92%) and specificity (80%) in discriminating frail from non-frail in Saint Bruno (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.81), but showed fair results in Santa Cruz (AUC = 0.61, sensitivity = 81% and specificity = 52%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SPPB better discriminated frailty in elderly with higher socioeconomic conditions (Saint Bruno).
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
authors.forename: Saionara Maria Aires
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: da Câmara
authors.forename: Beatriz Eugenia
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.forename: Jack M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Guralnik
authors.forename: Ricardo Oliveira
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Alvaro Campos Cavalcanti
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Maciel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000145:classification; D004522:Educational Status; D005221:Fatigue / Q000145:classification; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D057187:Independent Living; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D009043:Motor Activity; D018908:Muscle Weakness / Q000145:classification; D004856:Postural Balance / Q000502:physiology; D011203:Poverty; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011792:Quebec; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012923:Social Class; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology