• Min-Gu Kang, Oh Seok Kim, Emiel O Hoogendijk, and Hee-Won Jung.
• Department of Internal Medicine, Chonnam National University Bitgoeul Hospital, Gwangju, Korea. rkdalsrn798@hanmail.net.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2023 Jul 24; 38 (29): e157e157.

BackgroundWe aimed to evaluate the nationwide trend of the prevalence of frailty in older adults in Korea from 2008 to 2020 to inform future geriatric healthcare policies.MethodsThe study used data of individuals aged 65 years and older from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationwide repeated cross-sectional survey. Frailty was defined using frailty index, classified as non-frail (frailty index ≤ 0.15), pre-frail (0.15 < frailty index ≤ 0.25), or frail (frailty index > 0.25).ResultsThe study included 17,784 individuals, with the mean age of 72.4 and mean frailty index of 0.2. The prevalence of frailty in older adults in South Korea decreased significantly from 2008 (41.1%) to 2020 (23.1%). The decrease in the frailty index was observed in all age groups (all P < 0.05). As components of frailty index, we found that certain comorbidities, such as dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease, have increased over time, while factors such as chewing difficulty, activity limitation, and smoking, have decreased.ConclusionThe prevalence of frailty in older adults in South Korea has decreased significantly during the study period. Historical improvements in healthcare access and preventive measures may have contributed to this trend.© 2023 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.

13 keywords...

hide…