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Symposium

Health Sciences

Does Becoming Frail Mean the End? Social, Lifestyle, and Health Surrogates of Resilience in the Most Vulnerable

Saturday, November 11, 2023
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
Location: Room 124

Frailty is a prevalent geriatric syndrome characterized by reduced reserve to stressors and increased vulnerability to adverse outcomes. Despite many efforts, reversing the frail status remains difficult, primarily due to a lack of understanding of its etiology. Intervention efforts have primarily focused on improving functions and alleviating symptoms instead of targeting frailty-causing biology and treating the syndrome. Although no magic pill exists for treating frailty, becoming frail doesn’t mean the end of life. Frail individuals are a socioeconomically, behaviorally, and clinically diverse group. Identifying socioeconomic, lifestyle, and health features that could mitigate the frailty-induced health risks and promote resilience is critical for guiding patient-centered management of frailty. This symposium has a collection of four studies focusing on different ways to promote health and reduce risks among the most vulnerable. The first study suggested that adherence to a healthy lifestyle may provide an excellent opportunity to decrease the risk of adverse outcomes among the frail, especially those living in an unfavorable social environment. The second study found frailty to be associated with higher healthcare expenditure only among persons with poor self-rated health, suggesting individuals reporting good health are resilient to frailty-induced health risks. The third study found that physical frailty and self-rated health were overlapping but distinct constructs. Good self-rated health was predictive of low mortality among frail individuals, and the association was stronger among the frail than the non-frail. In the fourth study, intrinsic capacity, assessed by a validated, multidimensional tool, provided prognostic value for healthcare utilization beyond multi-morbidity.

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this session, participants will be able to understand the role of a healthy lifestyle, a favorable social environment, and good self-rated health in mitigating frailty-induced health risks among older adults. These characteristics will help guide the design and implementation of patient-centered management of frailty.
  • After attending this session, participants will be able to list several socioeconomic, behavioral, and health surrogates of resilience among the most vulnerable.

Presentations:

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Is Frailty the End? Association of Lifestyles and Social Environment With Death Among the Frail

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Chenkai Wu, PhD, MPH, MS (he/him/his) – Duke Kunshan University

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Can Good Self-Rated Health Mitigate the Frailty-Induced Health Care Expenditure? Evidence From China

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Chenkai Wu, PhD, MPH, MS (he/him/his) – Duke Kunshan University

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Disentangle the Relation between Frailty, Self-Rated Health, and Death: Implications for Resilience

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Chenkai Wu, PhD, MPH, MS (he/him/his) – Duke Kunshan University

  • 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM ET
    Health Beyond Disease in Old Age: Relationship of Intrinsic Capacity With Health Care Utilization

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Yafei Si (he/him/his) – UNSW Sydney