A Conceptual Framework of Frailty: A Review
Open Access
- 1 May 2002
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
- Vol. 57 (5), M283-M288
- https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/57.5.m283
Abstract
This article presents an overview of the increasingly common condition of frailty, which by and large lacks clarity of definition. A variety of sources provide this statement regarding definition, incidence, causation, rate, and time of appearance. Utilizing the newly elaborated process of symmorphosis, which explains the coadaptation of structure and function secondary to altered energy loads, I propose that frailty is a body-wide set of linked deteriorations including, but not confined to, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immunologic systems. The common final pathway that leads to this constellation of findings is usually keyed to a decline in physical activity either as a result of habit or disease inputs. As such, the state of frailty is largely separable from the process of aging and should thereby be susceptible to active intervention and reversal.Keywords
This publication has 48 references indexed in Scilit:
- Editorial: Diabetes Mellitus: A Major Disease Of Older PersonsThe Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2000
- Frailty and ageingAge and Ageing, 1997
- How Fast Do We Age? Exercise Performance Over Time as a BiomarkerThe Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 1996
- FrailtyInternational Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 1995
- A Randomized Trial of Care in a Hospital Medical Unit Especially Designed to Improve the Functional Outcomes of Acutely Ill Older PatientsThe New England Journal of Medicine, 1995
- Strength, Power and Related Functional Ability of Healthy People Aged 65–89 YearsAge and Ageing, 1994
- 8 The Plasticity of Skeletal MuscleExercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 1991
- Growth factors, their receptors and developmentAmerican Journal of Medical Genetics, 1989
- GRIP STRENGTH, MENTAL PERFORMANCE AND NUTRITIONAL STATUS AS INDICATORS OF MORTALITY RISK AMONG FEMALE GERIATRIC PATIENTSAge and Ageing, 1986
- Prognosis in Acute Organ-System FailureAnnals of Surgery, 1985