ABSTRACT
AIMS: Frailty within the older adult rehabilitation population is relatively under-explored. We aimed to derive a frailty index (FI) from electronic routinely collected data to determine frailty prevalence, and to assess its ability to predict adverse outcomes in the rehabilitation setting. METHODS: A FI was derived and retrospectively applied to electronically recorded health information of older adults admitted for inpatient rehabilitation. For analysis, subjects were allocated into frailty score (FS) groups (0-5). Primary outcome was a six-month hospitalistion rate, and other outcomes were: mortality, entrance into long-term care (LTC) at one year, length of stay (LOS), 30- and 90-day hospitalistions. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions analysed associations between frailty and outcomes. RESULTS: One hundred and sixty-two patient electronic notes were reviewed. Mean (SD) age was 86 (8.2) years, 147 (90.7%) were considered frail (FS>0.25). The most frail group (FS 5) had higher risk of six-month hospitalisations (OR=6.19; 95%CI=1.82, 21.13; p=0.004). A higher frailty score was associated with shorter LOS compared to lowest frailty scores (15.7 days vs 25.4 days; p=0.04). No relationship was found with shorter-term outcomes. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of frailty is high in the rehabilitation setting. Association of frailty with shorter LOS and lack of association found with shorter-term outcomes warrant further study.
