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The association of race with frailty: the cardiovascular health study.

TitleThe association of race with frailty: the cardiovascular health study.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2006
AuthorsHirsch, C, Anderson, ML, Newman, A, Kop, W, Jackson, S, Gottdiener, J, Tracy, R, Fried, LP
Corporate/Institutional AuthorsCardiovascular Health Study Research Group,
JournalAnn Epidemiol
Volume16
Issue7
Pagination545-53
Date Published2006 Jul
ISSN1047-2797
KeywordsAfrican Americans, Aged, Asthenia, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cohort Studies, Cross-Sectional Studies, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Frail Elderly, Health Status, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Motor Activity, Odds Ratio, United States, Weight Loss
Abstract<p><b>PURPOSE: </b>Frailty, which has been conceptualized as a state of decreased physiologic reserve contributing to functional decline, has a prevalence among older African Americans that is twice that in older whites. This study assesses the independent contribution of race to frailty.</p><p><b>METHODS: </b>We evaluated 786 African-American and 4491 white participants of the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS). Frailty is defined as meeting three or more of five criteria derived from CHS measures: lowest quintile for grip strength, self-reported exhaustion, unintentional weight loss of 10 lbs or greater in 1 year, slowest quintile for gait speed, and lowest quintile for physical activity. Controlling for age, sex, comorbidity, socioeconomic factors, and race, multinomial logistic regression estimated the odds ratio (OR) of prefrail (one or two criteria) to not frail and frail to not frail.</p><p><b>RESULTS: </b>Among African Americans, 8.7% of men and 15.0% of women were frail compared with 4.6% and 6.8% of white men and women, respectively. In adjusted models, nonobese African Americans had a fourfold greater odds of frailty compared with whites. The increased OR of frailty associated with African-American race was less pronounced among those who were obese or disabled.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION: </b>African-American race is associated independently with frailty.</p>
DOI10.1016/j.annepidem.2005.10.003
Alternate JournalAnn Epidemiol
PubMed ID16388967
Grant ListN01-HC-15103 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-35129 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85079 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85080 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85081 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85082 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85083 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85084 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85085 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States
N01-HC-85086 / HC / NHLBI NIH HHS / United States