In:
The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Oxford University Press (OUP), Vol. 76, No. 3 ( 2021-02-25), p. e38-e45
Abstract:
We evaluated whether frailty and multimorbidity predict in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19 beyond chronological age. Method A total of 165 patients admitted from March 8th to April 17th, 2020, with COVID-19 in an acute geriatric ward in Italy were included. Predisease frailty was assessed with the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Multimorbidity was defined as the co-occurrence of ≥2 diseases in the same patient. The hazard ratio (HR) of in-hospital mortality as a function of CFS score and number of chronic diseases in the whole population and in those aged 70+ years were calculated. Results Among the 165 patients, 112 were discharged, 11 were transferred to intensive care units, and 42 died. Patients who died were older (81.0 vs 65.2 years, p & lt; .001), more frequently multimorbid (97.6 vs 52.8%; p & lt; .001), and more likely frail (37.5 vs 4.1%; p & lt; .001). Less than 2.0% of patients without multimorbidity and frailty, 28% of those with multimorbidity only, and 75% of those with both multimorbidity and frailty died. Each unitary increment in the CFS was associated with a higher risk of in-hospital death in the whole sample (HR = 1.3; 95% CI = 1.05–1.62) and in patients aged 70+ years (HR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.04–1.62), whereas the number of chronic diseases was not significantly associated with higher risk of death. The CFS addition to age and sex increased mortality prediction by 9.4% in those aged 70+ years. Conclusions Frailty identifies patients with COVID-19 at risk of in-hospital death independently of age. Multimorbidity contributes to prognosis because of the very low probability of death in its absence.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1079-5006
,
1758-535X
DOI:
10.1093/gerona/glaa291
Language:
English
Publisher:
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Publication Date:
2021
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2043927-1
SSG:
12
Bookmarklink