title: Frailty and cardiovascular risk in community-dwelling elderly: a population-based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Evidence suggests a possible bidirectional connection between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the frailty syndrome in older people.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To verify the relationship between CVD risk factors and the frailty syndrome in community-dwelling elderly.
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based study used data from the Fragilidade em Idosos Brasileiros (FIBRA) Network Study, a cross-sectional study designed to investigate frailty profiles among Brazilian older adults. Frailty status was defined as the presence of three or more out of five of the following criteria: unintentional weight loss, weakness, self-reported fatigue, slow walking speed, and low physical activity level. The ascertained CVD risk factors were self-reported and/or directly measured hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, waist circumference measurement, and smoking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 761 participants, 9.7% were characterized as frail, 48.0% as pre-frail, and 42.3% as non-frail. The most prevalent CVD risk factor was hypertension (84.4%) and the lowest one was smoking (10.4%). It was observed that among those participants with four or five risk factors there was a higher proportion of frail and pre-frail compared with non-frail (Fisher's exact test: P=0.005; P=0.021). Self-reported diabetes mellitus was more prevalent among frail and pre-frail participants when compared with non-frail participants (Fisher's exact test: P≤0.001; P≤0.001). There was little agreement between self-reported hypertension and hypertension identified by blood pressure measurement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hypertension was highly prevalent among the total sample. In addition, frail and pre-frail older people corresponded to a substantial proportion of those with more CVD risk factors, especially diabetes mellitus, highlighting the need for preventive strategies in order to avoid the co-occurrence of CVD and frailty.
authors.affiliation: Master's and Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natalia Aquaroni
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.affiliation: Master's and Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Germane Silva
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Pessoa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ferriolli
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rosangela Correa
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Master's and Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy, Universidade Cidade de São Paulo (UNICID), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Monica Rodrigues
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Perracini
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000145:classification; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D055105:Waist Circumference
keywords: aged; cardiovascular disease; frailty syndrome; hypertension