title: Frailty Index Predicts All-Cause Mortality for Middle-Aged and Older Taiwanese: Implications for Active-Aging Programs.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Frailty Index, defined as an individual's accumulated proportion of listed health-related deficits, is a well-established metric used to assess the health status of old adults; however, it has not yet been developed in Taiwan, and its local related structure factors remain unclear. The objectives were to construct a Taiwan Frailty Index to predict mortality risk, and to explore the structure of its factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analytic data on 1,284 participants aged 53 and older were excerpted from the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study (2006), in Taiwan. A consensus workgroup of geriatricians selected 159 items according to the standard procedure for creating a Frailty Index. Cox proportional hazard modeling was used to explore the association between the Taiwan Frailty Index and mortality. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify structure factors and produce a shorter version-the Taiwan Frailty Index Short-Form.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During an average follow-up of 4.3 ± 0.8 years, 140 (11%) subjects died. Compared to those in the lowest Taiwan Frailty Index tertile (< 0.18), those in the uppermost tertile (> 0.23) had significantly higher risk of death (Hazard ratio: 3.2; 95% CI 1.9-5.4). Thirty-five items of five structure factors identified by exploratory factor analysis, included: physical activities, life satisfaction and financial status, health status, cognitive function, and stresses. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (C-statistics) of the Taiwan Frailty Index and its Short-Form were 0.80 and 0.78, respectively, with no statistically significant difference between them.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although both the Taiwan Frailty Index and Short-Form were associated with mortality, the Short-Form, which had similar accuracy in predicting mortality as the full Taiwan Frailty Index, would be more expedient in clinical practice and community settings to target frailty screening and intervention.
authors.affiliation: Aging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Aging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital Yuanshan Branch, Yilan County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Ju
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Aging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Yueh
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: Aging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Li-Ning
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shu-Ti
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.affiliation: Aging and Health Research Center, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Liang-Kung
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006293:Health Promotion; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology