Frailty among middle-aged and older women and men in India: findings from wave 1 of the longitudinal Ageing study in India

OBJECTIVES: Few studies have examined frailty in Indian adults, despite an increasing population of older adults and an escalating burden of chronic diseases. We aimed to study the prevalence and correlates of frailty in middle-aged and older Indian adults. SETTING: Cross-sectional data from Wave 1 of Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, conducted in 2017–2018 across all states and union territories, were used. PARTICIPANTS: The final analytical sample included 57 649 participants aged 45 years and above who had information on frailty status. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: The deficits accumulation approach to measuring frailty was employed, creating a frailty index between 0 and 1, based on 40 deficits. Individuals with a frailty index of 0.25 or more were defined as ‘frail’. RESULTS: Prevalence of frailty among 45+ adults was 30%. 60+ women were two times as likely to be frail compared with 60+ men, after adjusting for a wide range of sociodemographic, economic and lifestyle factors. The sex difference was more pronounced in adults aged 45–59 years. Odds of hospitalisation in the last 12 months, and having falls in the past 2 years, were two times as high in frail adults compared with non-frail adults. Frail middle-aged and older adults had 33% and 39% higher odds, respectively, of having poor cognition than non-frail adults. The relative increase was higher in women for all three outcomes, although not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: There needs to be careful consideration of sex differences when addressing frailty, particularly for optimising frailty interventions. Frailty, although typically assessed in older adults, was shown in this study to be also prevalent and associated with adverse outcomes in middle-aged Indian adults. More research into assessment of frailty in younger populations, its trajectory and correlates may help develop public health measures for prevention of frailty.