What is frailty?

Frailty is a syndrome characterized by a decreased ability to adapt to stressors, increasing the risk of adverse health outcomes (falls, hospitalizations, death, etc.). There can be many causes of frailty, but the effects are weakness, loss of muscle mass, loss of balance, and weight loss. Approximately 10% of people ≥65 years old are frail, increasing to 15.7% in people 80–84 years old, and 26.1% in people ≥85 years old.^[1]