The UK and other developed nations are characterised by an ageing population and frailty will become an increasingly demanding issue for the health care system. While the UK is a diverse nation in terms of ethnic background, however there are only a few analyses which analyse how the level and the development of frailty is influenced by ethnicity in the UK. The aim of this study is to illustrate frailty trajectories over time in the UK for individuals aged 50 and above of different ethnic backgrounds.

Understanding Society (US) includes a ‘boost’ sample of 11,500 participants from diverse ethnic minorities and offers the possibility to analyse growth trajectories not only for the White British but also separately for minor ethnicities. A frailty index (FI) has been constructed using US. For the construction of the FI, an accumulation of deficits approach was used. The FI facilitates tracking changes in subjective, physical, functional, cognitive health and chronic conditions. Domains which were included in the construction of an FI from US are health conditions, health limitations and disabilities/difficulties and the constructed FI has been analysed for its characteristics.

Frailty trajectories have been modelled using the age vector model for different ethnic minority groups in the UK (Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indians, Caribbean and Africans) and compared to the White British group. The aim was to analyse how the levels and the intensity of development of frailty differ by ethnicity. Additionally, also the influence of socioeconomic covariates such as sex and education were analysed. Different specifications with interactions between ethnicity and age were tested and also with fixed and random intercepts or/and slopes. Results show that Bangladeshi and especially Pakistanis have elevated levels of frailty.

Co-authors

Professor Susan Pickard; Professor Sharma Surinder, University of Liverpool;

Assistant Professor Victoria Cluely, University of Nottingham;

Professor Simon Conroy, NHS; Dr Bram Vanhoutte, University of Brussel;

Dr Jay Banerjee; Dr Christopher Williams, University of Leicester;