Correlates of physical, psychological, and social frailty among formerly incarcerated, homeless women.
Benissa E Salem, Mary-Lynn Brecht, Maria L Ekstrand and 2 others
PMID 30901288WHAT IT FOUND
Among formerly incarcerated homeless women, physical frailty was linked to older age, longer homelessness, violent offenses, drug dependence, PTSD, and less tangible support.
Pain and more jail stays were linked to psychological frailty.
Key findings
01On average, participants scored 2.0 of 8 on physical frailty, 1.7 of 4 on psychological frailty, and 1.1 of 3 on social frailty.
02Physical frailty was higher among women who were older, had been homeless longer, had more prior violent offenses, had greater drug dependence, had more PTSD symptoms, or had lower tangible support.
03Psychological frailty was higher with greater pain, more years homeless, more jail stays, higher drug dependence, and more drugs used. Social frailty was higher with more drugs used and greater emotion regulation difficulty, while daily alcohol use was linked to lower social frailty.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample came from four community sites in Los Angeles and Pomona and included women on probation or parole, so it may not represent other homeless women. The study measured women at one time point, so it cannot show whether the factors caused frailty or frailty caused the factors. The three-item social frailty score was very unreliable, and the four-item psychological frailty score was also unreliable, so those scores may not have measured the intended domains well. The final models kept associations that met a less strict cutoff, so some reported links may be less stable.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that treating pain, PTSD, or substance dependence will reduce frailty. The study measured women at one time point, used a convenience sample, and the social frailty score was unreliable.