Self-Rated Health and Frailty in Older Adults from the Population-Based Three-City Bordeaux Cohort

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate whether self-rated health (SRH) predict frailty and its components among community dwellers aged 75 years and older. Methods: We ran a cross-sectional and prospective analysis from 643 and 379 participants of the Bordeaux Center (France) of the Three-City Study, respectively. We assessed SRH using a single question with 5 response options. We defined frailty as having at least 3 out of the following 5 criteria: weight loss, exhaustion, slowness, weakness, and low energy expenditure. We used multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models. Results: At baseline, poor SRH was significantly associated with frailty (odds ratio = 5.2; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.9-9.5) and its components except for weakness. In the prospective analysis on nonfrail participants, poor SRH was associated with the 4-year risk of slowness (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1-2.6) but not with that of frailty (HR = 1.6; 95% CI: 0.9-2.9) or the other components. Conclusions: In a French cohort of community dwellers aged 75 years or older, poorer SRH was associated with concomitant frailty and 70% higher risk of slowness over 4 years.