Table 4 Associations between frailty and healthcare utilisation in different settings during the 6-month period after the baseline

Polyclinic visits

Robust (n = 454)

153 (33.7)

0.97 ± 2.3

1.00

Pre-frail (n = 194)

82 (42.3)

1.64 ± 4.18

1.54 (1.08, 2.19)

Frail (n = 53)

20 (37.7)

1.11 ± 1.82

1.17 (0.60, 2.29)

p-value

0.113^a

0.080^b

Specialist outpatient clinic visits

Robust (n = 454)

139 (30.6)

1.21 ± 2.61

1.00

Pre-frail (n = 194)

70 (36.1)

2.03 ± 4.13

1.48 (0.96, 2.27)

Frail (n = 53)

31 (58.5)

5.08 ± 7.32

3.31 (1.56, 7.06)

p-value

< 0.001

< 0.001

Emergency department visits

Robust (n = 454)

20 (4.4)

0.05 ± 0.25

1.00

Pre-frail (n = 194)

20 (10.3)

0.19 ± 0.73

2.55 (1.25, 5.20)

Frail (n = 53)

16 (30.2)

0.47 ± 0.82

6.40 (2.38, 17.24)

p-value

< 0.001

< 0.001

Day surgery attendances

Robust (n = 454)

24 (5.3)

0.06 ± 0.31

1.00

Pre-frail (n = 194)

11 (5.7)

0.09 ± 0.47

1.77 (0.77, 4.06)

Frail (n = 53)

5 (9.4)

0.13 ± 0.44

5.75 (1.28, 25.78)

p-value

0.468

0.450

Hospitalisations

Robust (n = 454)

11 (2.4)

0.03 ± 0.17

1.00

Pre-frail (n = 194)

19 (9.8)

0.12 ± 0.41

3.76 (1.66, 8.53)

Frail (n = 53)

16 (30.2)

0.53 ± 0.97

13.11 (4.90, 35.04)

p-value

< 0.001

< 0.001