Frailty is associated with longer hospital stay and increased mortality in hospitalized older patients.
BACKGROUND
With the onset of frailty, there is often a rapid, progressive, and self- perpetuating downward spiral towards death. Frailty has enormous impact on acute hospital care and has been shown to be a more effective predictor of mortality than conventional clinical measures.


METHODS
Hospitalized older patients admitted in medical wards at a teaching public hospital were studied to determine the prevalence of frailty; its association with anemia, congestive heart failure, clinically active tuberculosis and cognitive impairment; as well as its impact upon short-term outcome.


RESULTS
A total of 250 older hospitalized patients were included, and their frailty status was assessed using Fried's criteria. Of these, 83 (33.2%) patients were frail, with frailty found to be significantly associated with increasing age. A lower mean level of haemoglobin (p, 0.002), higher chance of congestive heart failure (p, <0.001), lower mean MMSE score (p, <0.001), was found in frail older patients. Frail subjects had a higher median hospital stay. There were total of 5 deaths, all among the frail group.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed that almost a third of hospitalized older patients are frail, and have anemia, higher frequency of CHF, cognitive impairment, longer hospital stay and higher mortality.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110029, India.
D
D
Khandelwal
A
A
Goel
U
U
Kumar
V
V
Gulati
R
R
Narang
A B
AB
Dey
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D000740:Anemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000208:ethnology; D006779:Hospitals, Public; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis