Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Dent, Elsa
• Dal Grande, Eleonora
• Price, Kay
• Taylor, Anne W.

Titel

Frailty and usage of health care systems: Results from the South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System (SAMSS)

Ist Teil von

• Maturitas, 2017-10, Vol.104, p.36-43

Ort / Verlag

Ireland: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •The link between frailty and health service use was investigated using population health-based surveillance data.•The Frailty Index (FI) was used to identify frailty.•Older adults with frailty were high users of health care services, with the exception of general practitioners.•Presentation to hospital emergency departments was particularly high for frail older adults.•The health service use patterns uncovered in our study can be used to plan health service provision. Little is known about frailty and its impact on health-care systems. Using large-scale population health surveillance data, this study determined the prevalence of frailty, its associated factors, and the impact it places on health care services. A cross-sectional snapshot of the 2013–2015 South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System (SAMSS) database was used, focusing on individuals aged ≥65years. Frailty was assessed by the Frailty Index (FI), and classified as robust (scores≤0.1), pre-frail (>0.1 to ≤0.25), and frail (>0.25). 7207 people (53.7% female) were included; mean (SD) age was 74.8 (7.17) years. The mean (SD) FI score was 0.23 (0.11), with a 99% upper limit of 0.53. Over a third (36.3% (95% CI 34.8–37.9)) were classified as frail and over half (53.6% (95% CI 52.0–55.1)) as pre-frail. Frailty was less common in rural areas, and was associated with age, lower education level, and higher socioeconomic disadvantage. After adjustment for confounders, multivariable analyses showed a gradient effect by frailty classification with regard to both hospital- and non-hospital-based services. Frail older adults were more likely to present to hospital Emergency Departments (EDs) than their pre-frail or robust counterparts, yet visited the GP at the same rate as older adults with pre-frailty. Frail older adults were higher users of health care services, with the exception of GPs. Knowledge of the health service usage patterns of frail older adults can be used to direct public health policy and plan future GP provision.