Prevalence of Co-Occurrence of Physical Frailty and Malnutrition and Its Associated Factors Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in a Rural District, Malaysia
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-1-2024
Abstract
Frailty and malnutrition commonly co-occur but remains undetected and untreated in community settings. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of co-occurring frailty and malnutrition, and its associated factors among community-dwelling older adults in a rural setting in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults aged >= 60 residing in Kuala Pilah district, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Physical frailty and nutritional status were assessed using the Fried phenotype and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), respectively. Among 1855 participants, 6.4% had co-occurring frailty and at-risk/malnutrition and 11.3% had co-occurring prefrailty and at-risk/malnutrition. Older age, fair-to-poor self-rated health, long-term disease, polypharmacy, activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental ADLs' disabilities, cognitive impairment, and poor social support were associated with higher odds of co-occurring frailty and malnutrition. Therefore, beside early identification, targeted intervention is crucial to prevent or delay the progression of frailty and malnutrition in this population.
Keywords
frailty, malnutrition, older adults, prevalence, rural
Divisions
sportmedicine
Funders
Ministry of Higher Education High Impact Research STeMM grant (E000010-20001),University of Malaya Grant Challenge (PEACE) (GC001A-14HTM); (GC001D-14HTM)
Publication Title
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health
Volume
36
Issue
2-3
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Publisher Location
2455 TELLER RD, THOUSAND OAKS, CA 91320 USA