Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29496895›Full record

SynthesisBMJ open2018

Prevalence of frailty and prefrailty among community-dwelling older adults in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Dhammika D Siriwardhana, Sarah Hardoon, Greta Rait, Manuj C Weerasinghe, Kate R Walters

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 219 papers, 26 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
219citing papers in PubMed, 26 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

219 citing papers in PubMed, 26 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Global Prevalence of Cognitive Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Asia-Pacific psychiatry : official journal of the Pacific Rim College of Psychiatrists · 2026
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159 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Dhammika D SiriwardhanaResearch Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Sarah HardoonResearch Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Greta RaitResearch Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.
Manuj C WeerasingheDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Kate R WaltersResearch Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-2173-2430

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo systematically review the research conducted on prevalence of frailty and prefrailty among community-dwelling older adults in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to estimate the pooled prevalence of frailty and prefrailty in community-dwelling older adults in LMICs.

designSystematic review and meta-analysis. PROSPERO registration number is CRD42016036083. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, AMED, Web of Science, CINAHL and WHO Global Health Library were searched from their inception to 12 September 2017.

settingLow-income and middle-income countries.

participantsCommunity-dwelling older adults aged ≥60 years.

resultsWe screened 7057 citations and 56 studies were included. Forty-seven and 42 studies were included in the frailty and prefrailty meta-analysis, respectively. The majority of studies were from upper middle-income countries. One study was available from low-income countries. The prevalence of frailty varied from 3.9% (China) to 51.4% (Cuba) and prevalence of prefrailty ranged from 13.4% (Tanzania) to 71.6% (Brazil). The pooled prevalence of frailty was 17.4% (95% CI 14.4% to 20.7%, I

conclusionThe prevalence of frailty and prefrailty appears higher in community-dwelling older adults in upper middle-income countries compared with high-income countries, which has important implications for healthcare planning. There is limited evidence on frailty prevalence in lower middle-income and low-income countries. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42016036083.

Indexed as

AgedDeveloping CountriesFrailtyHumansIndependent LivingPrevalenceRisk Factorsageingepidemiologyfrailty syndromeLMICsmeta-analysissystematic review

Identifiers

PMID29496895
PMCPMC5855322

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.