Background/Objective: Fear of falling (FoF) and frailty are common problems in older adults. FoF can lead to self-imposed restriction of activities and then further decline in physical capacities that predispose older adults to frailty. Evaluating the association of these two geriatric syndromes may be the first step for understanding their complex relationship and might ultimately lead to establishing therapeutic goals and guiding treatments for older adults with frailty. This systematic review was conducted to provide evidence regarding the association between FoF and frailty. Methods: All the articles that provided information on the association between FoF and frailty were selected from PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, and EMBASE in search of relevant papers. Articles reporting information on the association between FoF (exposure) and frailty (outcome), with older adults (age ≥ 60 years) living in the community (ie, living either at home or in places of residence that do not provide nursing care or rehabilitation) were included. Only original articles with observational design (cross-sectional or longitudinal/cohort) were included. The methodological quality of included articles was evaluated independently by the two assessors through the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist for longitudinal and cross-sectional studies, respectively. Results: The initial searches found 4,342 articles, of which 10 articles were included in this review: 7 cross-sectional and 2 longitudinal studies, and 1 study with cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. The total sample was composed of 6,294 community-dwelling older adults (61.8% women). Among the longitudinal studies, adjusted odds ratios ranged from 1.18 (95% CI = 1.02; 1.36) to 9.87 (95% CI = 5.22; 18.68), while the adjusted odds ratios of the cross-sectional studies ranged from 1.04 (95% CI = 1.02; 1.07) to 7.16 (95% CI = 2.34; 21.89). Conclusion: FoF increases the risk of frailty in community-dwelling older adults. The knowledge of this association is of utmost importance in clinical practice, since it can help health professionals in the development of rehabilitation, prevention, and health promotion protocols. In addition, these findings can contribute to the development of public health policies and actions aimed at reducing the FoF and consequently the frailty. Prospero: CRD42021276775.

A presença de padrões de multimorbidade tem sido relacionada à incapacidade funcional nas atividades básicas (ABVD) e instrumentais (AIVD) de vida diária, que são essenciais ao autocuidado e autonomia do idoso. Assim, o objetivo do estudo foi estimar a associação dos padrões de multimorbidade com a presença de incapacidade funcional em idosos brasileiros. Tratou-se de um estudo transversal, utilizando dados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde (PNS 2013), realizada com idosos brasileiros (≥ 60 anos). As medidas de incapacidade funcional foram provenientes de questionários autorreferidos, categorizadas em atividades básicas de vida diária (ABVD) e atividades instrumentais de vida diária (AIVD). Os padrões de multimorbidade analisados foram: (1) cardiorespiratório; (2) vascular-metabólico; e (3) mental-musculoesquelético. As variáveis de ajuste incluíram idade, sexo, anos de estudo e região do país. Foram realizadas análises de regressão logística multivariável, estimando-se as odds ratio (OR) brutas e ajustadas, pelo software Stata 16.0. Os idosos classificados nos padrões mental-musculoesquelético tiveram maiores chances de ter incapacidade nas ABVD (OR = 2,72; IC95%: 2,33; 3,18), enquanto aqueles com padrão cardiopulmonar mostraram maiores chances de incapacidade nas AIVD (OR = 2,65; IC95%: 1,95; 3,60), quando comparados aos que não tinham os mesmos padrões de acometimento. Concluiu-se que todos os padrões de multimorbidade analisados foram associados à presença de incapacidade nas ABVD e AIVD e, assim, devem ser considerados no planejamento das ações para prevenção de incapacidades em idosos com multimorbidades.

Background: Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is a clinical disorder characterized by increased adiposity and decreased muscle mass and function, commonly observed in older adults. However, most of the studies that investigated SO prevalence rates were not based on current standardized diagnostic methods. Thus, this study aims to estimate the prevalence rates of SO and their level of agreement using different instruments proposed by the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) Consensus, in a sample of hospitalized older adults with severe obesity.Methods: A cross-sectional study with 90 older adults (≥ 60 years) with severe obesity (body mass index ≥ 35 kg/m/²) seeking an in-hospital multidisciplinary body weight reduction program. Skeletal muscle function was assessed using the five-repetition Sit-Stand test (5-SSt) and Handgrip Strength (HGS). Body composition was evaluated by high percentages of fat mass (FM), low appendicular lean mass (ALM/W), and skeletal muscle mass (SMM/W), adjusted to body weight. The stage of SO was assessed on the presence of at least one comorbidity and specific cut-offs were adopted for each step. All analyses were performed according to gender and age range.Results: The prevalence rates of SO in the total sample were 23.3%, 25.5%, 31.1%, and 40.0% considering altered values of 5-SSt+FM+ALM/W, HGS+FM+ALM/W, 5-SSt+FMSSM/W, and HGS+FM+SSM/W, respectively. Higher prevalence rates were observed among female and old elderly subgroups, regardless of the diagnostic combination. There were weak agreements between the muscle function tests (5-SSt versus HGS) using both muscle mass indexes in the total sample and all subgroups. Moderate agreements were observed between muscle mass indexes (SMM/W versus ALM/W) in the total sample, male and younger older adults (using 5-SSt), and strong agreements for men and younger older adults (using HGS).Conclusion: The discrepancies observed between the prevalence rates and their levels of agreement reinforce the need for new studies in similar populations aiming for better standardization of SO assessment.

Sarcopenia has a high prevalence in older adults and is associated with chronic aggravations to health, so therefore it is important to identify older adults who are affected by sarcopenia in order...