Frailty and risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 infection among older adults: evidence from the Dutch Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort study.
Aging Clin Exp Res
; 34(11): 2693-2702, 2022 Nov.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2075753
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Frailty is associated with COVID-19 severity in clinical settings. No general population-based studies on the association between actual frailty status and COVID-19 hospitalization are available.AIMS:
To investigate the association between frailty and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization once infected.METHODS:
440 older adults who participated in the Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort study in the Northern Netherlands and reported positive COVID-19 testing results (54.2% women, age 70 ± 4 years in 2021) were included in the analyses. COVID-19 hospitalization status was self-reported. The Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI) was derived from 15 self-reported questionnaire items related to daily activities, health problems, and psychosocial functioning, with a score ≥ 4 indicating frailty. Both frailty and COVID-19 hospitalization were assessed in the same period. Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were used to analyze the associations between frailty and COVID-19 hospitalization.RESULTS:
Of 440 older adults included, 42 were hospitalized because of COVID-19 infection. After adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization was observed for frail individuals (risk ratio (RR) [95% CI] 1.97 [1.06-3.67]) compared to those classified as non-frail.DISCUSSION:
Frailty was positively associated with COVID-19 hospitalization once infected, independent of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Future research on frailty and COVID-19 should consider biomarkers of aging and frailty to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms and manifestations between frailty and COVID-19 outcomes.CONCLUSIONS:
Frailty was positively associated with the risk of hospitalization among older adults that were infected with COVID-19. Public health strategies for frailty prevention in older adults need to be advocated, as it is helpful to reduce the burden of the healthcare system, particularly during a pandemic like COVID-19.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Frailty
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Aging Clin Exp Res
Journal subject:
Geriatrics
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S40520-022-02268-9
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS