THE COYOACAN COHORT STUDY: DESIGN, METHODOLOGY, AND PARTICIPANTS’ CHARACTERISTICS OF A MEXICAN STUDY ON NUTRITIONAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL MARKERS OF FRAILTY
Background:“Frailty” has emerged as a condition associated with an increased risk of functionaldecline among the elderly, which may be differentiated from aging, disability, and co-morbidities. Objective: TheMexican Study of Nutritional and Psychosocial Markers of Frailty among Community-Dwelling Elderly hasemerged to help answer many questions about frailty among the older adults. This report presents the design ofthe study and baseline data of its participants. Design: The “Coyoacan cohort” is a longitudinal observationalstudy developed in Mexico City. Participants:A representative sample of 1,294 non-institutionalized men andwomen aged 70 years and older were randomly recruited to undergo a face-to-face interview and acomprehensive geriatric assessment (including clinical evaluations and blood samples) between 2008 and 2009.Measurements:Data collected included socio-demographic and economic characteristics, medical history, oralhealth, drug use, cognitive function and mood, nutritional status, physical performance and functional status,physical activity, quality of life, social networks, and biological data. Frailty was defined as the presence of ≥3 ofthe following components: slowness, poor muscle strength, low physical activity, exhaustion and unintentionalweight loss. Results: A total of 1,124 participants completed the interview. The mean age was 79.5 ± 7.1 years,and 55.9% were female. Nine hundred and forty-five subjects completed the clinical evaluation and 743 bloodsamples were collected. The baseline prevalence of frailty was 14.1%. Conclusions:Understanding the medical,biological, and environmental factors that contribute to the phenomenon of frailty is the goal of the currentresearch in the field.