The Role of Frailty in Predicting 3 and 6 Months Functional Decline in Hospitalized Older Adults: Findings from a Secondary Analysis

João Tavares, Pedro Sa-Couto, João Duarte Reis, Marie Boltz and Elizabeth Capezuti
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João Tavares: School of Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Pedro Sa-Couto: Department of Mathematics (DMAT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
João Duarte Reis: Department of Mathematics (DMAT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Marie Boltz: College of Nursing, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 10927, USA
Elizabeth Capezuti: School of Nursing, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10010, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-13

Abstract: Frailty represents one of the most relevant geriatric syndromes in the 21st century and is a predictor of adverse outcomes in hospitalized older adult, such as, functional decline (FD). This study aimed to examine if frailty, evaluated with the Frailty Index (FI), can predict FD during and after hospitalization (3 and 6 months). Secondary data analysis of a prospective cohort study of 101 hospitalized older adults was performed. The primary outcome was FD at discharge, 3 and 6 months. The FI was created from an original database using 40 health deficits. Functional decline models for each time-point were examined using a binary logistic regression. The prevalence of frailty was 57.4% with an average score of 0.25 (±0.11). Frail patients had significant and higher values for functional decline and social support for all time periods and more hospital readmission in the 3 month period. Multivariable regression analysis showed that FI was a predictor of functional decline at discharge (OR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.02–1.14) and 3-month (OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 1.01–1.09) but not 6-month (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.99–1.09) follow-up. Findings suggest that frailty at admission of hospitalized older adults can predict functional decline at discharge and 3 months post-discharge.

Keywords: aged; frail older adults; frailty; hospitalization; functional status; adverse effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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