Impact of Frailty on Heart Failure Prognosis: Is Sex Relevant?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most frequent causes of hospital admission in elderly patients, especially in women, who present a high prevalence of geriatric syndromes like frailty. Studies have suggested that frailty and its impact may also differ between males and females. Understanding how frailty may differently affect HF patients depending on sex is therefore imperative for providing personalized care. The aim of this review is to summarize the role of sex in the prognostic impact of frailty in HF patients. RECENT FINDINGS: Numerous studies have identified frailty as a significant predictor of all-cause mortality and hospital readmissions. A recent study of elderly HF out-patients demonstrated that while women had a higher prevalence of frailty, it was an independent predictor of mortality and readmission only in men. Moreover, another study revealed that physical frailty was associated with time to first clinical event among men but not among women. These results raise the question about why frailty affects differently HF prognosis in men and women. Women with HF present a higher prevalence of frailty, especially when it is considered as physical decline. Nevertheless, frailty affects differently HF prognosis in men and women. Women with HF present lower mortality than men and frailty is related with prognosis only in men. The different severity of HF between men and women and other hormonal, psychosocial, and clinical factors might be involved in this fact.

Prognostic effect of systematic geriatric assessment on patients with acute heart failure.

AIMS: Frailty and dependence are frequent in patients admitted for acute heart failure (AHF), but their prognostic significance is unknown, especially in young adults. We aimed to study in adults admitted for AHF, regardless of age, the effect of frailty and dependence on the incidence of mortality and a combined event of mortality, readmissions for AHF, and visits to the emergency room (ER) for AHF at 1 and 6 months. METHODS AND RESULTS: We designed a prospective cohort study by including all the patients with AHF admitted in our Cardiology Department from July 2020 through May 2021. A multidimensional geriatric assessment was performed during the admission. We clinically followed up the patients 6 months after discharge. We enrolled 202 patients. The mean age was 73 ± 12.32 years, and 100 (49.5%) of the patients were elderly (>75 years). Just 78 patients (38.6%) were women, and 100 (49.5%) had previous HF. Frailty (FRAIL ≥ 3) was observed in 68 (33.7%) patients (mean FRAIL score: 1.88 ± 1.48). Dependence (Barthel < 100) was observed in 65 (32.2%) patients (mean Barthel index: 94.38 ± 11.21). Frailty and dependence showed a significant association with both prognostic events at 1 and 6 months. In the multivariable analysis, frailty was associated with higher mortality at 1 month [hazard ratio (HR) 12.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.57-101.47, P = 0.017] but not at 6 months (HR 2.25, 95% CI 0.61-8.26, P = 0.224) or with the combined endpoint at neither 1 month (HR 1.64, 95% CI 0.54-5.03, P = 0.384) nor 6 months (HR 1.35, 95% CI 0.75-2.46, P = 0.320). Dependence was related to higher mortality at 1 month (HR 13.04, 95% CI 1.62-104.75, P = 0.016) and 6 months (HR 7.18, 95% CI 1.99-25.86, P = 0.003) and to higher incidence of the combined event at 1 month (HR 5.93, 95% CI 1.63-21.50, P = 0.007) and 6 months (HR 2.62, 95% CI 1.49-4.61, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In AHF patients, frailty and dependence implied a worse prognosis, rising mortality, readmissions, and ER visits for AHF.

Fast systematic geriatric assessment in acute heart failure patients admitted in Cardiology.

BACKGROUND: Heart failure prevalence is increasing in elder adults. These patients usually present geriatric syndromes, especially frailty. The effect of frailty on heart failure is under discussion but there are few data about the clinical characterization of frail patients who are admitted for acute heart failure decompensation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to study the differences in clinical baseline variables and geriatric scales between frail and non-frail patients admitted to the Cardiology unit via the Emergency Department for acute heart failure. METHODS: We enrolled all patients with acute heart failure who were admitted to the Cardiology unit from the Emergency Department of our hospital from July 2020 through May 2021. A multidimensional and comprehensive geriatric assessment was performed at the moment of admission. We studied differences in baseline variables and geriatric scales according to the frailty status determined by the FRAIL scale. RESULTS: A total of 202 patients were included. In the whole population, 68 (33.7%) patients presented frailty defined by a FRAIL score ≥ 3. The frail patients were older (80±9 vs. 69±12 years; p<0.001), and had a worse quality of life (58.31±12.18 vs.39.26±13.71 points; p<0.001) according to the Minnesota scale, presented high comorbidity (47 (69.1%) vs. 67 (50.4%) patients; p = 0.011) defined as ≥3 points according to the Charlson scale and were more dependent (40 (58.8%) vs. 25 (18.8%) patients; p<0.001) according to the Barthel scale. The frail patients presented higher MAGGIC risk scores (24.09±4.99 vs. 18.89±6.26; p<0.001). Despite this adverse profile, the treatments prescribed during the admission and at the hospital discharge were similar. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of geriatric syndromes, especially frailty, is very high in patients admitted for acute heart failure. Frail patients with acute heart failure had an adverse clinical profile with more prevalence of concomitant geriatric syndromes. Therefore, we consider that a geriatric assessment should be performed during the admission of acute heart failure patients to improve care and attention.

Differences According to Age in the Diagnostic Performance of Cardiac Biomarkers to Predict Frailty in Patients with Acute Heart Failure.

Frailty has traditionally been studied in the elderly population but scarcely in younger individuals. The objective of the present study is to analyze differences according to age in the diagnostic performance of cardiac biomarkers to predict frailty in patients admitted to the hospital for acute heart failure (AHF). A frailty assessment was performed with the SPPB and FRAIL scales (score > 3). We included 201 patients who were divided according to age: those older and younger than 75 years. In the younger group, no biomarker was related to the presence of frailty. This was mainly determined by age and comorbidities. In the elderly group, NT-proBNP was significantly related to the presence of frailty, but none of the baseline characteristics were. The best cut-off point in the elderly group for NT-proBNP was 4000 pg/mL. The area under the curve (AUC) for proBNP for frailty detection was 0.62 in the elderly. Another similar frailty scale, the SPPB, also showed a similar AUC in this group; however, adding the NT-proBNP (one point if NT-proBNP < 4000 pg/mL), it showed a slightly higher yield (AUC 0.65). The addition of biomarkers could improve frailty detection in members of the elderly population who are admitted to the hospital for AHF.