Prevalence, factors and early outcomes of frailty among hospitalized older patients with valvular heart disease: A prospective observational cohort study.
Zhiyun Shen, Yuan Zhang, Daxin Zhou and 5 others
PMID 38424686WHAT IT FOUND
Frailty was found in 78 of 207 older hospitalized patients with valve disease, and frail patients had longer stays, higher costs and more 30-day adverse events.
Poor chewing, low exercise, multimorbidity and NYHA III/IV were associated with frailty.
Key findings
01Frailty was present in 78 of 207 older hospitalized patients with valve disease, and prefrailty in 94 of 207.
02Multimorbidity (OR 2.98), NYHA class III/IV (OR 4.81), 3 or more times/week exercise (OR 0.25) and very poor masticatory function (OR 14.79) were independent frailty factors.
03Frail patients had more 30-day adverse events than non-frail patients (11.5% vs 3.1%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
All patients came from one hospital in China, and they had to communicate in Chinese and have sufficient hearing and vision for assessment, so the results may not apply to other settings or to patients with delirium or severe mental disorders. Frailty was measured only once on admission, so the study cannot show how frailty changed over time or which patients became frail later. The study was observational, so the factors associated with frailty are not proven causes, and the outcomes were not compared after a treatment intervention. Follow-up was limited to 30 days, so longer-term mortality, rehospitalization and recovery were not described. The study analysed 207 patients, while the planned sample size was 232.
Declared interests
The study was funded by hospital, national research and nursing research grants. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that treating frailty, improving exercise or addressing chewing will shorten stays or reduce adverse events. The study observed associations in hospitalized patients and did not test an intervention.