Fragility is an emerging concept used in the field of geriatrics and gerontology in order to refer to unfavorable clinical conditions of the elderly,1 and it calls the attention of professionals and researchers working with issues related to ag- ing. Nevertheless, there is a deficit of information regarding the incidence and prevalence of frailty in the elderly, especially in our area, due to the lack of consensus about a definition that could be used as triage in different populations.2
Some scholars say, on this subject, that if there is a “clinical judgment” about the meaning of fragility and who really is the frail elderly there will be no agreement, no standard definition on the concept that might help in the early identification of high risk patients evidencing this phenomenon.2 It also compromises to address the problem, par- ticularly in our context, the fact that some health professionals consider the fragility as inherent condition of aging. Such attitude may lead to a late action, with minimal potential for prevention or reversal from adverse consequences related to that matter.3