UNLABELLED Several studies have shown a heightened inflammatory state in frail older adults, marked by high serum levels of interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein and an increased number of circulating leukocytes. Activation of monocytes and macrophages, marked by increased levels of neopterin, may contribute to chronic inflammation in the frail older adult. However, the reduced mononuclear cell ...

BACKGROUND many instruments are available to identify frail older adults who may benefit from geriatric interventions. Most of those instruments are time-consuming and difficult to use in primary care. OBJECTIVE to select a valid instrument to identify frail older adults in primary care, five simple instruments were compared. METHODS instruments included clinical judgement of the general pr...

Frailty is a “multidimensional syndrome of loss of reserves (energy, physical ability, cognition, health) that gives rise to vulnerability.”1 Younger seniors, generally speaking, are not frail. In fact, Canadian seniors between 65 and 75 years of age report limitation in activities of daily living similar to those adults aged 45 to 64 years.2 However, one-quarter of seniors aged 85 years or old...

BACKGROUND Balance during quiet stance involves the complex interactions of multiple postural control systems, which may degrade with frailty. The complexity of center of pressure (COP) dynamics, as quantified using multiscale entropy (MSE), during quiet standing is lower in older adults, especially those with falls. We hypothesized that COP dynamics from frail elderly individuals demonstrate l...

Skeletal muscle power decreases earlier than muscle strength with advancing age and is more strongly associated with functional test performance than muscle strength in elderly populations. In addition, some studies have shown that resistance training designed to improve muscle power output (high speed of movement) enhances several functional outcomes in the healthy elderly. Therefore, muscle p...

This study describes the mental health status of community-living frail elders in Michigan and identifies subgroups who are vulnerable to mental health problems. We analyzed the baseline assessment data collected from older adults admitted to two community-based longterm care programs in Michigan (N = 18,939). Results show that 40.5% of the sample have recognized mental disorders, 39.6% use psy...

OBJECTIVES Both pre-frailty and frailty are linked with impaired executive function (EF) but the mechanism underlying this relationship is not known. Williams and colleagues' model posits EF affects health outcomes via stress regulation. This model was utlized to test indicators of stress regulation as mediators of the relationship between EF and pre-frailty in older adults. DESIGN Cross-sect...

BACKGROUND Geriatric syndromes, including frailty, are common in older adults and associated with adverse outcomes. We compared patients described in clinical notes as "frail" to other older adults with respect to geriatric syndrome burden and healthcare utilization. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study on 18,341 Medicare Advantage enrollees aged 65+ (members of a large nonprofit...

As the population of older adults increases, healthy aging has become a global public health issue. Physical activity can help older adults reclaim or maintain a healthy aging process. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between physical activity, physical performance, quality of life and cognition in non-frail adults aged 65 and older. English articles in peer-reviewed...