Objective:

to analyze frailty prevalence and associated factors in the elderly in the city of Pelotas, RS, Brazil, in 2014.

Methods:

this was a cross-sectional, population-based study of a sample of individuals aged 60 years old or older; a modified version of the Edmonton Frail Scale was used to assess frailty; prevalence ratios (PR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were estimated using Poisson regression.

Results:

frailty prevalence was 13.8% and was higher among individuals aged 75 years or older (PR 4.33 - 95%CI 2.94;6.39), those of the female gender (PR 1.46 - 95%CI 1.06;2.03) and those living without a partner (PR 1.54 - 95%CI 1.16;2.04); epilepsy (PR 3.58 - 95%CI 2.19;5.85), ischemia (PR 2.56 - 95%CI 2.00;3.28), and heart failure (PR 2.48 - 95%CI 1.92;3.19) were the morbidities most highly associated with frailty.

Conclusion:

frailty was associated with older individuals, the female gender, those living without a partner and those affected by multiple morbidities.

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