This report included 420 adult inpatients in a single tertiary New Zealand hospital who were assessed using the Reported Edmonton Frail Scale; those with scores of ≥8 were considered frail. The overall prevalence of frailty was 48.8% and increased significantly with age; ≥85-year-olds were significantly more likely to be frail compared with <65-year-olds (OR 6.25; 95% CI, 3.17 to 12.7; p<0.01). Compared with New Zealand Europeans, Māori patients were significantly more likely to be frail (OR 4.0; 95% CI, 1.45 to 11.9; p=0.02). Compared with patients admitted to a medical specialty, those admitted to a surgical specialty were less likely to be frail (OR 0.52; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.86; p<0.01) and those admitted for rehabilitation were more likely to be frail (1.86; 1.03 to 3.41; p<0.04). Frail patients were significantly more likely to come from a rest home (OR 2.81; 95% CI, 1.38 to 6.14; p<0.01) or hospital-level care (9.62; 2.68 to 61.6; p<0.01).
