A review of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and frailty in older adults

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease in older adults. The increasing prevalence and disease burden in older adults comes with added challenges of coexisting disease condition. Frailty is an important geriatric syndrome associated with worse clinical outcomes in older adults. COPD and frailty share many common and interrelated risk factors, the presence of one condition worsening the course of other and vice versa. It is important to understand their relation, which can help in management. The continued and supervised pulmonary rehabilitation program has a vital role in the management of COPD and frail patients, providing a better quality of life.