Frailty: mind the gap

Abstract Frailty has become the focus of considerable research interest and media attention over the past 15 years. While it has much to offer geriatric medicine, potential pitfalls also need to be acknowledged. The conceptualisation of frailty in very different ways—as a syndrome or a risk state—ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Age and ageing 2018-07, Vol.47 (4), p.508-511
Main Authors: Mudge, Alison M, Hubbard, Ruth E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age discrimination
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Ageism - prevention & control
Ageism - psychology
Aging - psychology
Analysis
Care and treatment
Company business management
Empowerment
Frail
Frail elderly
Frail Elderly - psychology
Frailty
Frailty - classification
Frailty - diagnosis
Frailty - physiopathology
Frailty - psychology
Geriatric Assessment - methods
Geriatric clinics
Geriatrics
Health aspects
Humans
Management
Population studies
Predictive Value of Tests
Priming
Public Opinion
Residential care
Sarcopenia
Stereotype (Psychology)
Stereotypes (Psychology)
Strength
Terminology as Topic
Yawning
Yawning behavior
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Summary:Abstract Frailty has become the focus of considerable research interest and media attention over the past 15 years. While it has much to offer geriatric medicine, potential pitfalls also need to be acknowledged. The conceptualisation of frailty in very different ways—as a syndrome or a risk state—has created semantic dissonance: the frailest patients by one definition may have early sarcopenia, by another be bedbound and in institutional care. Caution is required in transferring findings between studies enroling these different populations. Furthermore, a yawning gap has emerged between the number of studies reporting the associations of frailty and those investigating interventions such that the empirical benefits of identifying and treating frailty currently remain unclear. Perhaps most importantly, frailty research has evolved with little account of the perspectives and preferences of patients themselves. The label of ‘frail’, being linked to mental or moral weakness, has pejorative implications and care should be taken to avoid the adverse functional effects of negative priming. Here, we suggest pathways for future studies to provide a stronger evidence base to apply this important concept. This research is essential to avoid frailty becoming the new cloak of ageism, a tool for discrimination and disempowerment applied to the most vulnerable.
ISSN:0002-0729
1468-2834
DOI:10.1093/ageing/afx193