• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.66-74
• /
• 2024

Purpose: This study evaluates the effectiveness of providing frailty prevention services by living support workers through a case of community resource connection centered on living support workers to revitalize frailty prevention programs for vulnerable elderly people. Methods: This is a research study using secondary data from a neighborhood health-sharing project among the integrated health promotion projects of one public health center in Daegu Metropolitan City. To assess frailty effects pre-assessments were conducted in August, and post-assessments were conducted in November. Frailty was measured using a 20-item frailty instrument used in home healthcare projects. Data were analyzed using the chi-square, independent t-test, and paired t-test. Results: Preliminary measurements showed that older elderly had higher frailty scores than younger elderly. However, among the elderly aged 75 or older the total frailty score decreased statistically significantly from 5.97 points to 5.30 points (t=3.03, p=.003). Conclusion: The older elderly showed greater effect of frailty prevention than the younger elderly.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2023

The aging population, particularly those aged 65 and above, is on the rise, with projections indicating a substantial increase in the elderly demographic. This demographic shift brings challenges in managing age-related diseases, including head and neck cancers (HNCs). Frailty, often characterized by physiological decline and vulnerability to stressors, is a crucial factor affecting treatment outcomes of elderly cancer patients. Accordingly, the significance of assessing frailty in elderly HNC patients before their treatment should be emphasized, but current frailty assessment tools may not fully capture the unique challenges faced by HNC patients. Specific indicators, including respiratory and swallowing functions, are proposed for a more tailored assessment. This comprehensive review explores the impact of frailty on various treatment modalities, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, highlighting the need for personalized interventions. Furthermore, it suggests avenues for future research to enhance frailty assessment tools and investigate interventions aimed at improving treatment outcomes in elderly HNC patients.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
• /
• v.26 no.5
• /
• pp.382-395
• /
• 2021

Objectives: This study examined the nutritional status according to frailty status in the elderly at home. Methods: The participants were a total of 76 elderly at home living in Seo-gu, Gwangju, Korea. The nutritional status and frailty status were analyzed using the Nutrition Quotient for Elderly (NQ-E) and the Korean version of the Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illnesses and Loss of weight Scale (K-FRAIL), respectively. Results: The distribution of frailty status was robust (17.1%), pre-frailty (38.2%) and frailty (44.7%), and its distribution was significantly different in genders, age groups and the number of medications. The mean NQ-E score was 47.0 for total subjects, indicating a low grade. The scores of balance, diversity and dietary behavior factors were within the low grade, while the score of the moderation factor was within the medium-high grade. According to the frailty status, pre-frailty and frailty showed significantly higher scores for sugar-added beverages intake in the moderation constructs than robust. Robust showed significantly higher scores for the exercise hours and perception level for one's health than pre-frailty and frailty. Conclusions: These results suggest that nutrition status is associated with frailty status. Regular nutrition education and visiting nutrition service should be established to improve the balance and diversity of food intake and improve the dietary behavior of the elderly at home.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.347-357
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between frailty and oral health among some elderly community residents. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 240 elderly in the Gwangju-Jeonnam area from October 1, 2019, to November 30, 2019, based on convenience sampling. The questionnaire consisted of general characteristics of the subjects, frailty level (Kihon checklist), and Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index. Results: There were 66 (27.5%) frail elderly, and the GOHAI group with a score less than 45 constituted 187 (77.9%), which was higher than the group with a score of 45 or higher. The distribution of the frail elderly was indicated to be higher in the people with older age (p<0.05), lower educational level (p<0.01), current economic inactivity (p<0.05), living alone (p<0.01), more chronic diseases (p<0.01), and GOHAI score below 45 (p<0.01). Compared to those with a good oral health-related quality of life, those with a poor quality of life showed a 3.03 times higher risk of frailty (95% CI=1.291-7.107)(p<0.05). Conclusions: By recognizing the need for oral health care of the elderly through these results and by identifying the relationship between frailty and oral health, it is possible to consider oral health as a predictor of frailty.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to review and identify the meaning and components of the concept, Frailty. Method: We conducted literature review of studies that concluded the word of 'frail' or 'frailty between 1980 and 2008, and used MEDLINE, CINAHL database to select the articles. Results: Frailty is defined as a concept with multidomains, which are physical, cognitive, psychological, social. Critical characteristics of Frailty include multidominal deficiency, combined accumulation, diminished ability to keep up the independence of daily living, states beyond one's reserve capacity, dynamic relativity, proximity to adverse health outcome, aggregated symptoms. Frailty is caused by decreased physical activity, loss of sensory function, Chronic symptoms or signs, relationship with Caregiver, social isolation. Moreover, Frail elderly is at risk of falls and institutionalization. Conclusion: Frailty is very useful concept, because it has the potential to identify the elderly population at risk of adverse health outcomes. Based on this results, the appropriate tool for screening Korean Frail elderly and Nursing intervention for them needs to be developed.

• International Journal of Heart Failure
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.93-106
• /
• 2024

Being commonly diagnosed in elderly women and associated with comorbidities as well as ageing-related cardio-vascular changes, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) has been recently considered as a distinct cardiogeriatric syndrome. Frailty is another frequent geriatric syndrome. HFpEF and frailty share common underlying mechanisms, often co-exist, and represent each other's risk factors. A threshold of 65 years old is usually used to screen patients for both frailty and HFpEF in research and clinical settings. However, both HFpEF and frailty are very heterogenous conditions that may develop at younger ages. In this review we aim to provide a broader overview on the coexistence of HFpEF and frailty throughout the lifetime. We hypothesize that HFpEF and frailty patients' profiles (young, elderly, superaged) represent a continuum of the common ageing process modified by cumulative exposure to risk factors resulting to a presentation of HFpEF and frailty at different ages. We believe, that suggested approach might stimulate assessment of frailty in HFpEF assessment and vice versa regardless of age and early implementation of targeted interventions. Future studies of pathophysiology, clinical features, and outcomes of frailty in HFpEF by age are needed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
• /
• v.47 no.4
• /
• pp.562-574
• /
• 2017

Purpose: This study attempts to explore the subjective experience of frailty among elderly individuals in Korea. Methods: From June to August in 2014, 11 elderly persons who had experienced frailty in a community were interviewed. For data analysis, the method suggested by Colaizzi was applied as a phenomenological method. Results: According to the analysis, the study participants' frailty process was structured in seven categories: (a) 'natural phenomenon with ageing,' (b) 'life force comes to an end,' (c) 'the light in my heart turns off,' (d) 'unavoidable situation,' (e) 'continuous and connected vicious cycle,' (f) 'the limit of recovery energy already passes,' and (g) 'life is supported by someone's help.' Conclusion: The frailty experience in the participants is a natural process of aging, which cause vicious cycle acting with each other among physical, psychological, and social health. It is said that the cycle of frailty was started from weight loss and insufficient sleep, and boostered by pain. The participants from repetition of the vicious cycle become exhausted and pass the threshold of their recovery energy at some points. If they meet with sudden accidents such as falling, traffic accident and so on, they become to live a dependent life supported by someone's help in a moment. To prevent frailty and worsening conditions in Korean elderly individuals, it is recommended to provide a interventional programs using this study's results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
• /
• v.25 no.5
• /
• pp.725-739
• /
• 2022

This study conducted with 268 female elderly who visited welfare center and senior citizen center in Changwon city to identify the dietary status according to social frailty stage using nutrition quotient for elderly (NQ-E). As a result of the survey, 75.0% of the elderly had no nutrition education. The elderly in social frailty stage was 43.7%, pre-frail was 35.1%, and robust was 21.2%. The scores of NQ-E (61.65), balance (47.78), moderation (86.18), and dietary behavior (55.23) were within the medium-high grade, while diversity (48.37) was within the medium-low grade. Among the balance factor item, there was a significant difference only in the frequency of fruit intake according to social frailty stage (p<0.05). Among the diversity factor item, there were significant differences in vegetable intake (p<0.05) and the rate of eating alone (p<0.001) according to social frailty stage. Among the dietary behavior factor item, there were significant differences in whether to strive for a healthy diet (p<0.05), exercise time and depression (p<0.001), and subjective recognition rate of health (p<0.01) according to social frailty stage. Based on these results, education focusing on various food intake is needed, and continuous support from the government and local governments is needed to connect the social support network of the elderly and support programs to prevent them from going to social frailty stage.

• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.43-56
• /
• 2021

Objective : The objective of this study was to present the components of frailty by organizing the definitions of frail elderly and analyzing the tools used to screen them. Methods : This study searched for articles at involved frailty screening assessments in the elderly. Databases including CINAHL, Embase, Medline Complete, and PubMed were searched. The search terms were "assess" AND "frailty" AND "screening" AND ("frail elderly" OR "elderly"). Results : A total of 539 articles were identified by the search and 11 articles were selected. Frailty occurs due to the depressed function of multidimensional factors, and a frail elderly person is defined as one at high risk of health degeneration, functional impairment, and occurrence of disability, and having a high level of threat to life. Seven tools were selected from 11 articles. The most frequently used tool was the frailty phenotype, which was used in five articles (45.4%). The identified components of frailty were physical, activity participation, nutrition, psychological, social, overall health, and age. Conclusion : The results confirmed the definition and components of frailty. This study is expected to contribute to the future development of standardized evaluation tools for screening frail elderly individuals and intervention programs for the management of the frail elderly.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.47-54
• /
• 2022

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of masticatory ability on frailty in the elderly. General characteristics, subjective and objective masticatory ability, and frailty level were investigated in 224 elderly. The major findings were as; There were differences in masticating ability according to age, education level, employment status, living arrangement, and maxillary & mandibular dentures. The masticatory ability of the non-frail elderly was significantly higher than the frail elderly. The risk ratio of frailty was 2.33 times higher in subjects with poor mastication compared to subjects with good mastication ability. Also, as a result of adjusting for age, the risk ratio of frailty in the poor group was 2.30 times higher than in the group with good mastication ability. Through this, it is thought that the masticatory ability of the elderly is one of the predictors of frailty, and efforts to achieve healthy aging by preventing senescence through oral health management at the community level are thought to be necessary.