The Role of Biomarkers in the Assessment of Fragility Syndrome in the Elderly

Fragility is an important concept in geriatric medicine, and the study of its etiology has become a fundamental aspiration of many researchers in the field of aging⁽¹⁾ Fried’s model of defining fragile individuals has been praised for reproducibility and clinical consistency and has been validated despite negative results from large population studies. This index based on physical parameters evaluates only one aspect of frailty, while frailty is probably a complex, multidimensional concept⁽²⁾. Therefore, new strategies for identifying and assessing frailty in the elderly are needed. The use of biomarkers as new methods for diagnosing frailty could ensure greater accuracy in the detection of fragile subjects in the early stages⁽³⁾.

The aim of the paper was to evaluate the role of biomarkers in identifying people at high risk of frailty. The results of studies on biomarkers used to assess fragility were evaluated from the PubMed and Cochrane databases.

Conclusion. It is considered that biomarkers may be useful for the management of fragile patients only in combination with several biomarkers or with a clinical marker.