Table 1 Characteristics of the study sample by frailty status (n = 375)

Age (years), mean (SD)

70.9 (5.8)

70.9 (5.7)

71.3 (6.5)

0.612

Age (years), n (%)

0.172

 60–69

140 (37%)

114 (36%)

26 (42%)

 70–79

204 (54%)

176 (56%)

28 (45%)

 ≥ 80

31 (8.3%)

23 (7.3%)

8 (13%)

Sex, n (%)

0.937

 Men

165 (44%)

138 (44%)

27 (44%)

 Women

210 (56%)

175 (56%)

35 (56%)

Education background, n (%)

0.077

 Illiterate

125 (33%)

112 (36%)

13 (21%)

 Primary school

116 (31%)

93 (30%)

23 (37%)

 Secondary school and above

134 (36%)

108 (35%)

26 (42%)

Ethnicity, n (%)

 < 0.001

 Han

171 (46%)

158 (50%)

13 (21%)

 Tibetan

22 (5.9%)

21 (6.7%)

1 (1.6%)

 Yi

42 (11%)

40 (13%)

2 (3.2%)

 Uighur

118 (31%)

76 (24%)

42 (68%)

 Others

22 (5.9%)

18 (5.8%)

4 (6.5%)

Marital status, n (%)

0.017

 Married

265 (71%)

229 (73%)

36 (58%)

 Unmarried/widowed/divorced

110 (29%)

84 (27%)

26 (42%)

Number of chronic conditions, n (%)

 < 0.001

 0

214 (57%)

192 (61%)

22 (35%)

 1

91 (24%)

79 (25%)

12 (19%)

 ≥ 2

70 (19%)

42 (13%)

28 (45%)

Falls in last year, n (%)

63 (18%)

48 (16%)

15 (25%)

0.096

History of smoke, n (%)

97 (26%)

76 (24%)

21 (34%)

0.115

ADL disability, n (%)

66 (18%)

37 (12%)

29 (47%)

 < 0.001

Depression, n (%)

60 (16%)

46 (15%)

14 (23%)

0.122

Obesity, n (%)

47 (13%)

31 (9.9%)

16 (26%)

 < 0.001

Nutritional status, n (%)

0.006

 Normal

255 (68%)

222 (71%)

33 (53%)

 Risk of malnutrition

120 (32%)

91 (29%)

29 (47%)

Cognitive function impairment, n (%)

0.001

 Normal

296 (79%)

258 (82%)

38 (61%)

 Mild

55 (15%)

38 (12%)

17 (27%)

 Medium

22 (5.9%)

16 (5.1%)

6 (9.7%)

 Severe

2 (0.5%)

1 (0.3%)

1 (1.6%)