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Original Article
- Frailty Index Predicts Future All-cause Mortality and Quality of Life: A 2-Year Follow-up Study Among Korean Older Adults From a Population-based Cohort Study
- Woolim Ko, Hyunsuk Jeong, Hyeon Woo Yim
- J Prev Med Public Health. 2025;58(6):572-580. Published online November 10, 2025
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.25.210
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Abstract
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Supplementary Material - Objectives
The frailty index (FI), a proxy measure of accelerated biological aging, predicts adverse outcomes in older adults. We investigated whether the FI predicts mortality in a community-based Korean older adult population and its association with subjective health status over 2 years.
Methods
This prospective cohort study included 936 community-dwelling individuals aged ≥60 years. The FI, calculated from 28 self-reported baseline variables, was scored on a scale from 0 to 1 (<0.25: non-frail; 0.25-0.34: mildly frail; ≥0.35: moderately to severely frail). The primary outcome was 2-year all-cause mortality. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Quality of life was assessed using the European Quality of Life Five-Dimension Three-Level (EQ-5D-3L), with the proportions reporting extreme problems and prevalence ratios of problems across frailty groups. Analyses were conducted using the GENMOD procedure in SAS version 9.4.
Results
Of the 936 participants, 111 (11.9%) were non-frail, 230 (24.6%) were mildly frail, and 595 (63.6%) were moderately to severely frail. The prevalence of moderate to severe frailty increased with age. The moderate-severe frailty group had a ≥5-fold increased risk of mortality compared to the non-frail group (adjusted RR, 5.79; 95% CI, 1.39 to 24.07). Among those completing follow-up, the moderate-severe frailty group reported more problems across all EQ-5D-3L domains at 2 years.
Conclusions
Frail older adults are at increased risk of mortality, but this risk was significant only for those in the moderate-to-severe frailty category at 2-year follow-up. The FI is a valuable predictor of premature death and health challenges in older adults. -
SummaryKorean summary
2년의 추적 관찰 기간 동안, 기저 시점의 중등도에서 중증의 노쇠 상태에 있던 노인은 노쇠하지 않은 노인에 비해 사망 위험이 5배 이상 높았으며, EQ-5D-3L로 평가한 다양한 삶의 질 영역에서도 더 큰 어려움을 겪는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 결과는 특히 중등도에서 중증의 노쇠 상태가 임상적 위험뿐만 아니라 주관적 삶의 질을 개선하기 위한 우선적 개입이 필요할 수 있음을 시사한다. 본 연구는 노인의 건강 결과를 향상시키기 위해서는 개별 질환 관리뿐 아니라 노쇠 상태를 체계적으로 평가하고 관리하는 것이 중요함을 제안한다.Key Message
During the two-year follow-up period, older adults who were moderately to severely frail at baseline had a more than fivefold higher risk of death compared with those who were non-frail, and they also experienced greater difficulties across various quality-of-life domains as measured by the EQ-5D-3L. These findings suggest that moderate to severe frailty may require high-priority interventions to improve not only clinical risks but also subjective quality of life. This study indicates that, to improve health outcomes in older adults, it is important to systematically assess and manage frailty in addition to addressing individual diseases.
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