Frailty as a predictor of mortality: a comparative cohort study of older adults in Costa Rica and the United States

Table 2 Cohort characteristics at baseline by physical frailty status, Costa Rica and the United States (weighted estimates)

	Non frailty		Pre-frailty		Frailty		p-value^a
	Costa Rica	United States	Costa Rica	United States	Costa Rica	United States	p-value^a
Sex
Male	19.9	25.9	65.7	55.7	14.5	18.5	< 0.001
Female	13.7	16.7	68.6	58.7	17.7	24.6	< 0.001
Education level^b
Low	12.0	11.7	67.9	53.9	20.1	34.5	< 0.001
Medium	16.8	18.8	69.7	59.3	13.5	21.9	0.001
High	33.5	30.2	57.8	57.5	8.7	12.3	0.416
Economic vulnerability^c
Yes	12.6	8.71	67.1	50.6	20.3	40.7	< 0.001
No	19.0	22.0	67.2	58.1	13.8	19.9	< 0.001
Race and ethnicity							< 0.001
White		22.0		57.7		20.3
All other race/ethnicity		15.5		55.9		28.7
Metropolitan zone
Metropolitan	17.2	21.4	66.9	56.5	16.0	22.1	< 0.001
Non-Metropolitan	16.0	18.0	67.6	61.0	16.4	21.0	0.015
Marital status
In union	19.7	25.0	67.2	57.7	13.0	17.3	< 0.001
Not in union	12.3	14.6	67.1	56.8	20.6	28.6	0.015
Smoking
Current	13.8	20.7	70.8	57.3	15.4	21.9	< 0.001
Non-smoker	16.9	20.8	66.9	57.4	16.3	21.8	< 0.001

^a p-value compares the distribution of frailty categories, between Costa Rica and the United States, except for race and ethnicity that refers only to the United States
^b Low level of education was defined as elementary school or lower for Costa Rican participants, and incomplete high school or lower for the United States participants. Medium level of education was defined as incomplete high school for Costa Rican participants, and complete high school or college education without obtaining a degree for the United States participants. High level of education was defined as complete high school or higher for Costa Rican participants, and bachelor’s degree or higher for the United States participants
^c Economic vulnerability was defined as a total income < 100 USD per month per person in 2014 USD for CRELES participants, and as being a recipient of Medicaid for NHATS participants

ISSN: 1471-2458