Comparison of frailty among Japanese, Brazilian Japanese descendants and Brazilian community-dwelling older women

Aim To investigate frailty in Japanese, Brazilian Japanese descendants and Brazilian older women. Methods The collected data included sociodemographic and health-related characteristics, and the frailty index Kihon Checklist. We analyzed the differences between the mean scores of Kihon Checklist domains (using ancova) and the percentage of frail women (using χ2-test). We carried out a binary logistic regression with Kihon Checklist domains. Results A total of 211 participants (Japanese n = 84, Brazilian Japanese descendants n = 55, Brazilian n = 72) participated in this research. The Brazilian participants had the highest total Kihon Checklist scores (more frail), whereas the Brazilian Japanese descendants had the lowest scores (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the Brazilian group had more participants with oral dysfunction (P < 0.001), seclusion (P < 0.001), cognitive impairment (P < 0.001) and depression (P < 0.001). They were more likely to be frail (OR 5.97, 95% CI 2.69–13.3, P < 0.001), to have oral dysfunction (OR 3.18, 95% CI 1.47–6.85, P = 0.003), seclusion (OR 9.15, 95% CI 3.53–23.7, P < 0.001), cognitive impairment (OR 3.87, 95% CI 1.93–7.75, P < 0.001) and depression (OR 6.63, 95% CI 2.74–16.0, P < 0.001) than the Japanese group. Conclusions The older Brazilian women were likely to be more frail than the participants in other groups. More than the environment itself, the lifestyle and sociodemographic conditions could affect the frailty of older Brazilian women. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2015; 15: 762–769.