Introduction:

frailty identifies a subgroup of people with higher risk of morbidity and mortality.

Aims:

our first aim was to determine the prevalence of frailty in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus; our second aim was to establish which factors are associated with frailty in these patients.

Material and methods:

cross-sectional study in non-institutionalized people (288 patients), over 65 years of age, and diagnosed with diabetes mellitus type 2. Frailty was defined according to Freid's criteria. The following variables were assessed: blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, Lawton and Brody index, balance through unipodal support, and nutritional status by using the Mini Nutritional Assessment questionnaire.

Results:

the prevalence of frailty syndrome was 14.6%. The frailty group showed lower systolic blood pressure (p < 0.001), higher triglycerides levels (p = 0.007), and lower Lawton and Brody values (p < 0.001) than the non-frailty one; moreover, lower monopodal balance was observed with higher frailty levels (r = -0.306, p < 0.001). None frailty-subject was able to perform five seconds or more in balance (r = -0.343, p < 0.001). Moreover, higher frailty was related with poorer Mini Nutritional Assessment results (p = 0.013).

Conclusion:

the prevalence of frailty syndrome in patients with diabetes was higher compared with those in general population over 65 years of age. Frailty was related to lower systolic blood pressure, higher triglycerides concentrations, poorer nutritional status, and lower independency to perform instrumental activities of daily living and poorer balance.

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