journal articles
HOW TO INCLUDE THE SOCIAL FACTOR FOR DETERMINING FRAILTY?
L.M. Gutierrez-Robledo, J.A. Ávila-Funes
J Frailty Aging 2012;1(1):13-17
Traditionally, frailty has been understood as a biological syndrome associated with bad health-related
outcomes. However, nowadays there are no universally accepted diagnostic criteria for this syndrome, much less
studies approaching it from a non-biological framework. Some previous work has been able to highlight social
factors as important features implicated in the development of this entity, and are now recognized as relevant to
understand frailty. However, research in this field is still limited. It seems clear that social factors, often ignored
in the medical context, might represent risk factors for the development of this geriatric syndrome. To identify
these factors, as well as their role in the physiopathology of frailty, could be of great importance in order to
establish potential multidimensional models to treat frailty. A life course approach to determine the correlates and
trajectories of frailty seems to be necessary. The allostatic load through life and chronic inflammation in the
elderly are potential mediators of this relationship. Therefore, social profile should be systematically assessed and
taken into account when evaluating an elderly person. So, the present review proposes how to include social
factors as another determinant of frailty.
CITATION:
L. Miguel Gutiérrez-Robledo ; J.A. Avila-Funes (2012): HOW TO INCLUDE THE SOCIAL FACTOR FOR DETERMINING FRAILTY?. The Journal of Frailty and Aging (JFA). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jfa.2012.3