Context

Frailty is a common and costly problem. Recent research has enhanced our understanding of the aetiology, diagnosis and impact of frailty, yet the next step is to identify and evaluate interventions that target remediable aspects of frailty. Preventing frailty in people who are prefrail and ameliorating frailty in those already frail, has the potential to reduce poor health outcomes associated with frailty, such as disability, falling, hospitalisation and institutionalisation. To date, few studies have specifically recruited frail individuals or targeted frailty as an outcome. This study examined the effect of four intervention programmes versus usual care on degree of frailty in older people.