Frailty as a Predictor of Short-Term Outcomes for Elderly Patients with non-ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI)

• Background – For the large and growing population of elderly patients with cardiovascular disease it is important to identify clinically relevant measures of biological age and their contribution to risk. Frailty is an emerging concept in medicine denoting increased vulnerability and decreased physiologic reserves. We analyzed how the variable frailty predicts short-term outcomes for elderly NSTEMI patients. Methods and Results – Patients, aged 75 years or older, with diagnosed NSTEMI were included at three centers, and clinical data including judgement of frailty were collected prospectively. Frailty was defined according to the Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Of 307 patients, 150 (48.5%) were considered frail. Frail patients were slightly older and presented with a greater burden of comorbidity. By multiple logistic regression, frailty was found to be a strong independent risk factor for inhospital mortality, one-month mortality (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.3 to 10.8) and the primary composite outcome (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.7). Particularly frail patients with a high comorbidity burden manifested a markedly increased risk for the primary composite outcome. By multiple linear regression, frailty was identified as a strong independent predictor for prolonged hospital care (frail 13.4 bed days, non-frail 7.5 bed days; P<0.0001). Conclusions - Frailty is a strong independent predictor of in-hospital mortality, one-month mortality, prolonged hospital care and the primary composite outcome. The combined use of frailty and comorbidity may constitute an ultimate risk prediction concept regarding cardiovascular patients with complex needs.

Nyckelord

Elderly

frailty

NSTEMI

co-morbidity

outcomes

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

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vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)