الفهرس 
FRAILTYOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: Frailty and malnutrition are common problems among elders. Studying these two concepts is very important as both of them amenable for preventive interventions and are reversible.
Aim: The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of frailty and malnutrition among two groups of Egyptian elderly and to analyze the relationship between these two concepts on three levels in a sample of Egyptian elderly.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Methods: The study included 350 elderly participants aged 60 and over, 175 participants from nursing homes and 175 community dwellers. The following measurement was obtained: sociodemographic data, health status, functionality of family (family APGAR score), screening for depression (5 item Geriatric Depression Scale) and cognitive status (Mini-Mental state). Frailty was measured using SHARE frailty index whereas nutritional status was measured using the Mini Nutritional Assessment questionnaire.
Results: Frailty was highly prevalent among the two study groups with a percentage of 71.7% although it was more frequent among nursing homes. Frailty and malnutrition were highly prevalent in older age, in females, in widowed elderly, in those living alone, in participants with dysfunctional family, with comorbidities, with more than three comorbidities, with ischemic heart disease, receiving more than 3 drugs, with depressive symptoms and in those with lower cognitive performances. Strong relationship was found between 14 out of 18 MNA items and frailty status.
Conclusion: Frailty and malnutrition are highly prevalent problems among elderly in both nursing homes and community dwellings. They are two closely related sharing common characteristics.
Key words: Frailty, Malnutrition, APGAR score