• Soham Al Snih, James E Graham, Laura A Ray, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Kyriakos S Markides, and Kenneth J Ottenbacher.
• Division of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0460, USA. soalsnih@utmb.edu
• J Rehabil Med. 2009 Nov 1; 41 (11): 892-7.

ObjectiveTo examine the association between frailty status and incidence of disability among non-disabled older Mexican Americans.DesignA 10-year prospective cohort study.SubjectsA total of 1645 non-institutionalized Mexican Americans aged 67 years and older from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiological Study of the Elderly (H-EPESE), who reported no limitation in activities of daily living at baseline.MethodsFrailty was defined as meeting 3 or more of the following components: (i) unintentional weight loss of > 2.26 kg; (ii) weakness (lowest 20% in hand grip strength); (iii) self-reported exhaustion; (iv) slow walking speed; and (v) low physical activity level. Socio-demographic factors, Mini Mental State Examination, medical conditions, body mass index, and self-reported activities of daily living were obtained.ResultsOf the 1645 non-disabled subjects at baseline, 820 (50%) were not frail, 749 (45.7%) were pre-frail, and 71 (4.3%) were frail. The hazard ratio of activities of daily living disability at 10-year follow-up for pre-frail subjects was 1.32 (95% confidence interval 1.10-1.58) and 2.42 (95% confidence interval 70-3.46) for frail subjects compared with not frail subjects. This association remained statistically significant after controlling for potential confounding factors at baseline.ConclusionPre-frail and frail status in older Mexican Americans was associated with an increased risk of activities of daily living disability over a 10-year period among non-disabled subjects.

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