Factors related to frailty syndrome in the elderly with systemic arterial hypertension

Abstract Objective: To determine the factors related to frailty syndrome in elderly people diagnosed with systemic arterial hypertension. Methods: This study with a quantitative and cross-sectional approach was conducted with elderly individuals aged =60 years, of both sexes and diagnosed with arterial hypertension. Sociodemographic profile, blood pressure measurements, lifestyle habits, Edmonton Frailty Scale, and Mini-Mental State Examination were assessed. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation analysis, t test to compare means, and linear logistic regression were used. The significance level was p<0.05. The study was approved by the Ethics and Research Committee. Results: The 272 participants evaluated were diagnosed with systemic arterial hypertension (162), were women (119; 73.45%), most of them were aged between 60-79 years (82.1%), lived without a partner (85; 52.5%), had a mean education level of 5.14 years and morbidities of 5.18, in addition to high blood pressure. The Mini-Mental State Examination showed a positive value for cognitive deficit in individuals from the study population (96; 59.3%) and a mean frailty of 5.43 points. In the linear regression, lower education (p=0.005) and the number of morbidities (p<0.001) were the factors associated with frailty and women had a higher frailty score. Conclusion: The associated factors of sex, age, education, and multimorbidity (which directly affect frailty) lead to an increase in frailty in elderly people over time. This condition can cause a worsening of their health and the development of new comorbidities.