Correlations between physical, psychological and social frailty among elderly patients with multimorbidity
10.3760/cma.j.cn114798-20241211-00964
- VernacularTitle:老年共病患者躯体、心理、社会衰弱的相关性及影响因素分析
- Author:
Linlin ZHAO
1
;
Bingjie CHANG
1
;
Qinghua HU
1
;
Juan DU
1
;
Shuang SHAO
1
Author Information
1. 首都医科大学全科医学与继续教育学院，北京 100069
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Comorbidity;
Aged;
Frailty
- From:
Chinese Journal of General Practitioners
2025;24(6):670-678
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the correlations between physical, psychological and social frailty in elderly patients with multimorbidity.Methods:This study utilized a mixed method. A questionnaire survey was conducted from February to June 2024, among elderly patients with multimorbidity attending 4 primary health care centers in urban Beijing selected by the convenience sampling method. The FRAIL Frailty Assessment Scale, WHO-5 Index of Well-Being Scale, and HALFT Scale were used to assess the patients′ physical, psychological, and social frailty, respectively. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between different dimensions of frailty in elderly with multimorbidity. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the factors influencing physical, psychological and social frailty. The elderly with multimorbidity who were assessed to have at least 1 or more types of frailty in the quantitative study were selected for in-depth interviews in the form of online and offline combination. The topics of in-depth interview included the real experience of the different dimensions of frailty, the possible causes and the difficulties caused. The sample size was determined according to the principle of information saturation. Thematic analysis was used to summarize, code and analyze the interview data.Results:A total of 919 participants were included in the quantitative study, with a mean age of (74.09±6.03) years, 329(35.80%) were males and 590(64.20%) were females. The prevalence of physical, psychological, and social frailty was 17.85%(164/919), 21.44%(197/919), 11.21%(103/919), respectively. A total of 21 participants were included in the qualitative study, with a mean age (76.90±5.13)years, 5(23.81%) males and 16(76.19%) females. Spearman correlation analysis showed that physical and psychological frailty were moderately correlated ( r=0.311, P<0.001), psychological and social frailty were weakly correlated ( r=0.218, P<0.001), and physical and social frailty were weakly correlated ( r=0.267, P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis showed that the age, the number of multimorbidities, the psychological frailty and social frailty were the influencing factors for physical frailty (all P<0.05). The gender, number of multimorbidity, type of medication taken, physical frailty and social frailty were influencing factors of psychological frailty (all P<0.05). And age, number of multimorbidities, physical frailty and psychological frailty were influencing factors of social frailty (all P<0.05). A total of 3 themes were extracted through in-depth interviews, namely, "physical and psychological frailty are interrelated""physical and social frailty are interrelated", and "psychological and social frailty are interrelated". Conclusions:The physical, psychological, and social frailty in elderly patients with multimorbidity interacts with each other. Whereas the number of multimorbidities is a common risk factor for all three.
