Response to the Letter to the Editor: 'Frailty Consensus: A Call to Action'

摘要

Regarding the first point that Drs Xue and Varadhan1 made in their letter, I agree with the view that the frailty index (FI) is the result of the accumulation of deficits leading to the frailty construct. I do not think, however, that the frailty phenotype (FP) is "causing rather than being caused by the phenotypic components" as is stated in the letter. The phenotypic components, strongly related to sar-copenia, actually cause the frailty construct. In this regard, the FP is not so different from the FI model, although it is limited to physical frailty, where the FI model is more encompassing.