Development of Guidelines on the Primary Prevention of Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Despite the increasing number of older adults as the population ages, there is a lack of frailty prevention guidelines for community-dwelling older adults. The Korean Frailty and Aging Cohort Study conducted systematic review on contributors to frailty and developed guidelines on the primary prevention of frailty in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: This study updated a previous systematic review of contributors to frailty by adding the most recent articles. Based on this updated systematic review, experts in geriatrics and gerontology developed guidelines for preventing frailty using the Delphi method. RESULTS: These guidelines categorized the recommendations into physical activity, resilience, oral health, management of non-communicable diseases, involvement in society, smoking cessation, and eating various kinds of food. CONCLUSION: Unlike previous frailty-related guidelines, this study developed evidence-based frailty prevention guidelines based on a systematic review. The guidelines are expected to contribute to the healthy aging of community-dwelling older adults by the primary prevention of frailty.