ABSTRACT
The term frailty describes elderly patients who have multiple chronic diseases, limited activities of daily living, and increased risk of disability and loss of independence. Frailty is a geriatric syndrome that compromises the ability to maintain organismal functioning and is associated with an increased risk for multiple adverse health-related outcomes, including falls, fractures, disability, institutionalization, and death. The components of frailty consist of weight loss, fatigue, slow gait speed, weakness, and low activity levels. According to this model, those individuals with one or two of these conditions would be considered “prefrail,” just as we have classifications for prediabetes, prehypertension, and early stages of renal failure. The idea inherent in defining a state of prefrailty is to promote efforts to prevent the progression of this condition to frailty, which is defined as three or more of the above conditions of weight loss, fatigue, slow gait speed, weakness, and low activity levels (Fried et al. 2001). Once frailty develops, there are steps toward rehabilitation using physical therapy and nutrition, which will be discussed.
