Frailty a Major Predictor of Death, Functional Disability in Older Adults with Diabetes

​In older adults with type 2 diabetes, frailty is a better predictor of death and functional disability than are measures of comorbidities, reports a study in the October 2016 issue of JAMDA—The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. The data were taken from a study of frailty among older adults living in one province in Spain. At baseline, interviews, physical examinations, and clinical tests were conducted. Overall, 1,825 adults age 65 or older were followed for a median of 5.5 years for mortality and nearly 5 years for increasing functional disability. Among the 363 older adults with type 2 diabetes, 83 deaths and 84 cases of new functional impairment occurred during follow-up.