Frailty and health related quality of life in older Mexican Americans

BACKGROUND Previous research on frailty in older adults has focused on morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to elicit the relationship between being non-frail, pre-frail, or frail and health related quality of life in a representative sample of older Mexican Americans surveyed in 2005-2006. METHODS Data were from a representative subsample of the Hispanic Established Populations Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE) and included 1008 older adults living in the community (mean (sd) age = 82.3(4.3)). Multiple regression analyses examined the relationship between frailty status and the eight SF-36 health related quality of life subscales and two summary scales. Models also adjusted for the participants' sociodemographic and health status. RESULTS We found that, after adjusting for sociodemographic and health related covariables, being pre-frail or frail was significantly associated (p < 0.001) with lower scores on all physical and cognitive health related quality of life scales than being non-frail. CONCLUSION When compared to persons who are not frail, older Mexican American individuals identified as frail and pre-frail exhibit significantly lower health related quality of life scores. Future research should assess potential mediating factors in an effort to improve quality of life for frail elders in this population.