Samenvatting

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of multidimensional frailty in older people with
hypertension and to examine a possible relationship of general obesity and abdominal obesity
to frailty in older people with hypertension.
Patients and Methods: A sample of 995 community-dwelling older people with hypertension, aged 65 years and older and living in Zhengzhou (China), completed the Tilburg Frailty
Indicator (TFI), a validated self-report questionnaire for assessing multidimensional frailty. In
addition, socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics were assessed by self-report, and
obesity was determined by measuring waist circumference and calculating the body mass index.
Results: The prevalence of multidimensional frailty in this older population with hypertension was 46.5%. Using multiple linear regression analysis, body mass index was significantly
associated with physical frailty (p = 0.001), and waist circumference was significantly
positively associated with multidimensional frailty and all three frailty domains. Older age
was positively associated with multidimensional frailty, physical frailty, and psychological
frailty, while gender (woman) was positively associated with multidimensional, psychological, and social frailty. Furthermore, comorbid diseases and being without a partner were
positively associated with multidimensional, physical, psychological, and social frailty. Of
the lifestyle characteristics, drinking alcohol was positively associated with frailty domains.
Conclusion: Multidimensional frailty was highly prevalent among Chinese community-dwelling
older people with hypertension. Abdominal obesity could be a concern in physical frailty, psychological frailty, and social frailty, while general obesity was concerning in relation to physical frailty.