Association of frailty with the use of health services in older adults: a secondary analysis of the Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Abstract

Background: Frailty has been related to adverse outcomes, but evidence on its association with the use of health services is still scarce.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to determine the association of frailty with the use of health services in Mexican adults older than 60 years.

Material and methods: Analysis of the Mexican Health and Aging Study for the years 2015 (baseline) and 2018 (follow-up). Frailty was defined with the frailty index. The following outcomes were included: hospitalization, medical visits, major surgery, minor surgical procedures, and dental visits. Competing risk and count analyses (negative binomial regression) were performed.

Results: A total of 8,526 individuals were included, whose average age was 70.8%; 55.8% corresponded to the female gender. According to the results, hospitalization days and the number of minor procedures were associated with frailty.

Conclusions: Frailty could be useful in the planning of health services for older adults. On the other hand, its evaluation would allow prioritizing care for those who are at higher risk of adverse outcomes.