Prevalence of Physical and Oral Frailty Among the Community-Dwelling Geriatric Population of Thrissur, Kerala

Objective: Data on the prevalence of frailty in Kerala are sparse. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of frailty among community-dwelling older people in Kerala and explore the sociodemographic factors associated with physical and oral frailty among this population. We further explored the associations between physical and oral frailty. Design: Community-based cross-sectional study. Setting: Cluster-sampled area of Thrissur District, Kerala. Participants: A random sample of adults aged 60 years and above, from the cluster sampled area of Thrissur district. Methodology: We sampled 1079 community-dwelling adults aged ≥60 years from the Thrissur district of Kerala, using stratified random cluster sampling. Physical frailty was defined and recorded based on Fried’s Frailty Phenotype, Reported Edmonton Frail Scale, and SARC-F sarcopenia scales. Oral frailty was recorded based on Tanaka measures and the Oral and Maxillofacial Frailty Index. Logistic regressions were utilized to examine the associations between physical frailty and oral frailty. Results: Overall, 35.2% of participants were classified as physically frail and 62.2% as prefrail, whereas 22% had oral frailty. Oral frailty was independently associated with higher odds of physical frailty (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.02–1.98; P = 0.038) and sarcopenia (adjusted OR = 2.14; 95% CI = 1.44–3.17; P < 0.001). Having fewer than 20 teeth was significantly associated with sarcopenia (adjusted OR = 1.65; 95% CI = 1.20–2.27; P < 0.05). Conclusion: Integrating the multidisciplinary approaches, like oral frailty assessment along with general frailty assessment, can promote healthy ageing.