Factors associated with frailty, pre-frailty, and each of Fried's criteria of frailty among older adult outpatients

•Fried's phenotype frailty criteria have been further explored in this study.•Factors associated to a single Fried's criterion are not always associated with frailty diagnosis.•These findings may help professionals to identify frailty precursors. This study aims to investigate both the prevalence and associated factors of frailty, pre-frailty, and each criterion of frailty according to the Fried phenotype criteria among older adult outpatients receiving care from geriatric services. A cross-sectional study was conducted between 2020 and 2022 and included 335 older adults. Fried's criteria and a comprehensive geriatric assessment, including physical, clinical and mental health variables were investigated. More than half of participants presented frailty (11.6 %) and/or pre-frailty (43.3 %) according to Fried's criteria, with physical inactivity and low gait speed as the most prevalent criteria. Several factors demonstrated associations with the diagnosis of frailty/pre-frailty, including retirement status, marital status (unmarried), the use of walking aids, lower educational attainment, decreased functional status, and poor mental health. Furthermore, various factors were associated with each of Fried's criteria, highlighting that certain factors might align with a specific criterion without necessarily correlating with the diagnosis of frailty and pre-frailty.