What is the definition of frailty?

• A. A clinical syndrome of decreased reserve and resistance to stressors.
• B. A normal aging process with no clinical significance.
• C. A disease of the immune system.
• D. A type of fracture.

Answer: (A)

Frailty is a clinical syndrome characterized by diminished physiologic reserve and reduced ability to cope with stressors, making a person unusually vulnerable to even minor insults. This concept explains why small challenges—like an infection, dehydration, or a medication change—can lead to disproportionately large and lasting declines in function.

It is not simply aging, and it is not a disease of the immune system, nor a fracture. Normal aging may involve some slowing or mild changes, but frailty implies crossing a threshold across multiple bodily systems where reserve is compromised. In practice, frailty is often recognized by patterns such as unintended weight loss, weakness, fatigue, slow gait, and low activity, or more broadly by the accumulation of multiple deficits in health.

Understanding frailty helps predict risks like falls, delirium, hospitalization, and dependence, and informs interventions focused on maintaining nutrition and mobility, minimizing polypharmacy, and addressing reversible contributors to vulnerability.