Frailty index predicts the risk of 17 health outcomes in distinct ways: prospective findings from the Moli-sani Study.
Background Frailty reflects systemic vulnerability and is a major public health concern in ageing. This study examined how frailty relates to risk of death, hospitalisation and major chronic diseases. Methods We analysed data from 20 975 adults (≥35 years, 52% women) recruited in 2005–10 from the po...
| Published in: | Age & Ageing Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 1 - 12 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Apr2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193500087&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193500087 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00020729 AGA jtl: Age & Ageing issn: 00020729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Apr2026 vid: 55 iid: 4 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 193500087 10.1093/ageing/afag091 ppf: 1 ppct: 11 formats: tig: atl: Frailty index predicts the risk of 17 health outcomes in distinct ways: prospective findings from the Moli-sani Study. aug: au: Bracone, Francesca Castelnuovo, Augusto Di Costanzo, Simona Gialluisi, Alessandro Bonaccio, Marialaura Persichillo, Mariarosaria Curtis, Amalia De Magnacca, Sara Panzera, Teresa Orlandi, Sabatino affil: Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neurological Institute of Southern Italy NEUROMED, Pozzilli, Molise 86077, Italy Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neurological Institute of Southern Italy NEUROMED, Pozzilli, Molise 86077, ItalyDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Lombardy, Italy Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neurological Institute of Southern Italy NEUROMED, Pozzilli, Molise 86077, ItalyDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, LUM Giuseppe Degennaro University, Casamassima, Molise, Italy su: Italy Health status indicators Causes of death Social status Aging Hospital care of older people Disease risk factors Old age Alzheimer's disease risk factors Tumor risk factors Coronary heart disease risk factors Chronic disease risk factors Mortality risk factors Risk assessment Research funding Frail elderly Parkinson's disease Cardiovascular diseases risk factors Neurodegeneration Descriptive statistics Multivariate analysis Longitudinal method Geriatric assessment Type 2 diabetes Adverse health care events Data analysis software Confidence intervals Proportional hazards models sug: subj: Health status indicators Causes of death Social status Aging Hospital care of older people Disease risk factors Old age Italy Alzheimer's disease risk factors Tumor risk factors Coronary heart disease risk factors Chronic disease risk factors Mortality risk factors Risk assessment Research funding Frail elderly Parkinson's disease Cardiovascular diseases risk factors Neurodegeneration Descriptive statistics Multivariate analysis Longitudinal method Geriatric assessment Type 2 diabetes Adverse health care events Data analysis software Confidence intervals Proportional hazards models keyword: ageing aging cancer cardiometabolic risk competing risks copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 frailty https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag091 inLanguage:en mortality neurodegenerative diseases older people publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41967035/ ageing aging cancer cardiometabolic risk competing risks copyrightHolder:British Geriatrics Society copyrightYear:2026 frailty https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afag091 inLanguage:en mortality neurodegenerative diseases older people publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41967035/ ab: Background Frailty reflects systemic vulnerability and is a major public health concern in ageing. This study examined how frailty relates to risk of death, hospitalisation and major chronic diseases. Methods We analysed data from 20 975 adults (≥35 years, 52% women) recruited in 2005–10 from the population-based Moli-sani Study (Italy) and followed for a median of 15 years. Frailty was assessed using a multidimensional 29-item frailty index (FI). Cox models accounting for competing risks estimated hazard ratios (HR) for 17 incident outcomes, adjusted for age, sex and common covariates, including social status indicators. Results Frailty was associated with increased risk of several adverse outcomes. Per 1-SD increase in FI, the risk of type-2 diabetes and coronary heart disease rose by 82% (HR = 1.82; 95% confidence interval 1.73–1.92; 1541 events) and 33% (HR = 1.33; 1.23–1.44; 756). FI was also associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease (HR = 1.25; 1.05–1.47; 158) and non-Alzheimer dementia (HR = 1.31; 1.11–1.54; 150). Cancer associations varied by site. FI also predicted hospitalisations for any cause (HR = 1.31; 1.28–1.34; 11 193), and all-cause mortality (HR = 1.35; 1.30–1.40; 2631). Analyses comparing frail and prefrail with fit categories, excluding early events, and stratified by sex showed consistent results, with indications of somewhat stronger associations among individuals younger than 65 years in certain outcomes. Conclusion FI predicts a wide range of chronic diseases, especially cardiometabolic and neurodegenerative outcomes, and their negative consequences, including hospitalisation and mortality. These findings reinforce the importance of frailty assessment in preventive strategies, risk stratification and integrated surveillance in the general population. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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