PERFORMANCE-BASED AND SELF-REPORTED FRAILTY IN OLDER ADULTS WITH AND WITHOUT FIBROMYALGIA

Frailty, defined as weakness, low physical activity, exhaustion, and slowness, affects 7–12% of older adults in the United States. Previous research on frailty has been conducted primarily with self-report measures (e.g., the Tilburg Frailty Indicator). A unique aspect of the current research was its inclusion of both objective and self-report measures to assess frailty. The purpose of the study was to determine whether individuals with and without a chronic pain condition, fibromyalgia (FM), demonstrated differences in frailty, and if frailty varies by time since diagnosis among those with FM. The sample included 198 participants (54% with FM) aged 50 to 87 years (M = 63.47, SD = 8.80). Individuals were first-time participants recruited from four waves of a longitudinal study (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014) combined for cross-sectional analysis. Factor analysis resulted in two frailty variables. The first included physical performance measures (30-second chair stand, Fullerton Advance Balance Scale, 8-ft up and go, 6 min. walk, 30-ft walk), whereas the second variable included only self-report measures (Rapid Assessment of Physical Activity 1 and 2, a single-item fatigue question). In a series of regression analyses controlling for age and gender, FM status significantly predicted both performance-based and self-reported frailty (p