10-Year Follow-up of the Original Faroese Septuagenarian Cohort: Focus on Frailty and Association With All-cause Mortality

Eina H Eliasen; Pál Weihe; Fróði Debes; Marjun Tróndarson; Maria Skaalum Petersen

doi:10.1177/23337214231167980

10-Year Follow-up of the Original Faroese Septuagenarian Cohort: Focus on Frailty and Association With All-cause Mortality

Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2023 Apr 13:9:23337214231167980. doi: 10.1177/23337214231167980. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.

Authors

Eina H Eliasen^{1

2}, Pál Weihe^{1

2}, Fróði Debes¹, Marjun Tróndarson¹, Maria Skaalum Petersen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ The Faroese Hospital System, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.
² University of the Faroe Islands, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands.

Abstract

Little is known about the health status of Faroese people reaching high age. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the health status of older adults in a small-scale society with emphasis on frailty and all-cause mortality. In this 10-year follow-up study, 347 Faroese citizens aged 80 to 84 from the Faroese Septuagenarian cohort participated. A detailed health examination was conducted, in addition to self-reported questionnaire. We constructed a 40-item Frailty Index (FI) to assess frailty. Survival and mortality risks were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazard model. Median FI score was 0.28 ranging from 0.09 to 0.7; 71 (21%) individuals were least frail, 244 (67%) moderately frail, and 41 (12%) were most frail. Frailty and sex were statistically significantly associated with mortality; being male was associated with hazard ratio (HR) of 4.05 [CI 1.73, 9.48], and being most frail with HR of 6.2 [CI 1.84, 21.3]. Classification of octogenarians as least/moderately frail may be an opportunity to initiate interventions to prevent or delay frailty in this population stratum.

Keywords: frailty; health status; mortality; octogenarians; older adults.