-
Diabetes and frailty in the elderly. A prospective study of an outpatient population supported by general practitionners
Zulfiqar AA , Boulefred A , Dembélé IA , Amadou N , Traoré AK , Doucet J , Andres E
Rev Med Liege 2021, 76(11),817-823Abstract : Introduction: Elderly people with diabetes represent a large and growing part of the general practitioners patient database, but their state of frailty compared to the non-diabetic population is poorly understood. Objective: To study the relationship between diabetes and frailty in people aged 65 and over in primary care. Method: Frailty syndrome was assessed by the Fried Scale and compared between populations of diabetic and non-diabetic patients; 268 patients were studied, including 129 diabetic patients. Results: Frailty was found in 27.9 % of older diabetic patients. The observed mean Fried score was 1.76 in people with diabetes versus 1.39 in non-diabetics, with more frail diabetic subjects (p = 0.007). In this study, HbA1c levels showed no significant association to frailty. Conclusion: Larger studies in several general practice clinics should be performed on subjects over 65 years of age with or without diabetes.
