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Frailty in older adults
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Frailty is a geriatric syndrome, a cluster of changes that appears in older people and becomes more common as they age. At its center is physiological reserve, the extra margin the body keeps on hand to respond when something demands more of it than usual. In frailty, that reserve and the body's function are diminished, and the person becomes more and more vulnerable to physiological stressors, any jolt that puts the body to the test.
Frailty results from the damage cells accumulate over a lifetime. With typical aging, homeostatic reserve, the ability to maintain internal balance, is lost, and yet many people keep functioning well. The trouble comes with a stressor: that is when the body can decompensate, meaning it can no longer maintain that balance. It is like having a little money in savings: enough for day-to-day expenses, but maybe not for an emergency.
It matters because it is strongly linked to adverse outcomes such as falls, delirium, nursing home admission and mortality. But it is not fixed: frailty is dynamic and fluctuates, getting better and worse over time.
In brief
Frailty is a geriatric syndrome that becomes more common with age: diminished physiological reserve and function, with growing vulnerability to physiological stressors.
It results from cellular damage accumulated over a lifetime: typical aging erodes homeostatic reserve; many people keep functioning well, but a stressor can make them decompensate.
Small savings cover day-to-day expenses, but maybe not an emergency.
It is dynamic, fluctuates over time and is strongly linked to adverse outcomes such as falls, delirium, nursing home admission and mortality.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingClinical Frailty Scale, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated