Frailty in a Community-Dwelling Cohort of Older Adults and their Preference for Ageing-In-Place

Abstract

Frailty is a dynamic clinical state that may influence elders’ preference for aging-in-place. Method: The study examined the prevalence of frailty in 1,612 elders living in public housing estates, where an aging-in-place scheme was introduced. We used the FRAIL scale to classify elders into three groups: frail, pre-frail, and robust before the implementation of the Scheme and 1 year later. Results: The prevalence of frailty states remained the same over 1 year: robust (51.0% to 50.7%), pre-frail (37.9% to 38.1%), and frail (11.1% to 11.2%). There were 22.3% and 12.6% of frail and prefrail elders who were contemplating moving into an elderly home, but the respective percentages dropped to 16.4% and 10.7% at 1 year, respectively. Similarly, fewer frail and prefrail elders preferred to move should their health condition deteriorated (dropping from 28.7% to 22.6% and 30.2% to 13.4%). Implications: The AIP Scheme modifies ageing-inplace intention among frail elders.