COVID-19 is not over and age is not enough: Using frailty for prognostication in hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: Frailty screening using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) has been proposed to guide resource allocation in acute care settings during the pandemic. However, the association between frailty and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) prognosis remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between frailty and mortality over 6 months in middle-aged and older patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and the association between acute morbidity severity and mortality across frailty strata. DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING: Large academic medical center in Brazil. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1830 patients aged ≥50 years hospitalized with COVID-19 (March-July 2020). MEASUREMENTS: We screened baseline frailty using the CFS (1-9) and classified patients as fit to managing well (1-3), vulnerable (4), mildly (5), moderately (6), or severely frail to terminally ill (7-9). We also computed a frailty index (0-1; frail >0.25), a well-known frailty measure. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the association between frailty and time to death within 30 days and 6 months of admission. We also examined whether frailty identified different mortality risk levels within strata of similar age and acute morbidity as measured by the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. RESULTS: Median age was 66 years, 58% were male, and 27% were frail to some degree. Compared with fit-to-managing-well patients, the adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval [CI]) for 30-day and 6-month mortality were, respectively, 1.4 (1.1-1.7) and 1.4 (1.1-1.7) for vulnerable patients; 1.5 (1.1-1.9) and 1.5 (1.1-1.8) for mild frailty; 1.8 (1.4-2.3) and 1.9 (1.5-2.4) for moderate frailty; and 2.1 (1.6-2.7) and 2.3 (1.8-2.9) for severe frailty to terminally ill. The CFS achieved outstanding accuracy to identify frailty compared with the Frailty Index (area under the curve = 0.94; 95% CI = 0.93-0.95) and predicted different mortality risks within age and acute morbidity groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results encourage the use of frailty, alongside measures of acute morbidity, to guide clinicians in prognostication and resource allocation in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

COLONOSCOPY COMPLICATIONS IN THE ELDERLY: the impact of age and multimorbidity / Complicações de colonoscopia em idosos: impacto da multimorbidade e idade

ContextAge has been considered an independent risk factor for colonoscopy complications, especially when associated with multimorbidity.ObjectivesThe primary objective was to verify the relationships between age, multimorbidity and colonoscopy complications in the elderly.MethodsA retrospective cohort including patients of 60 years or older who had undergone a colonoscopy. Data relating to age, multimorbidities according to the cumulative illness scale for geriatrics and the Charlson index and complications related to bowel preparation and procedure (sedation and exam) were collected.ResultsOf the 207 patients (mean age 70.47 ± 7.04) with appropriate indication for colonoscopy according to the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 43 (20.77%) patients had some colonoscopy complications: 1 (0.48%) with the sedation (apnea), 4 (1.93%) with the procedure (abdominal pain and bacteremia) and 38 (18.35%) with the bowel preparation (acute renal failure, hypotension). Individuals ≥80 years had an RR = 3.4 (1.2-10.1),P = 0.025, and those with a Charlson index 3 had an RR = 5.2 (1.6-16.8), P = 0.006, for complications. The cumulative illness rating scale for geriatrics was not associated with complications (P = 0.45).ConclusionThere was a significant risk of complications in ≥80 years and in the group with a Charlson index 3. The cumulative illness rating scale for geriatrics was not a good predictor of risk in this sample.

ContextoA idade tem sido considerada um fator de risco independente para complicações colonoscópicas, especialmente na presença de multimorbidade.ObjetivosO objetivo primário foi verificar a correlação entre idade, multimorbidade e complicações colonoscópicas em idosos.MétodosCoorte retrospectiva de pacientes com 60 anos ou mais submetidos a colonoscopia. Foram coletados idade, multimorbidade (de acordo com os índices cumulative illness scale for geriatrics e Charlson) e complicações relacionadas ao preparo e procedimento (sedação e exame).ResultadoDos 207 pacientes (idade média 70.47 ± 7.04) com indicação apropriada para colonoscopia segundo a Sociedade Americana de Endoscopia Gastrointestinal, 43 (20.77%) tiveram alguma complicação: 1 (0.48%) com complicação pela sedação (apneia), 4 (1.93%) relacionada ao procedimento (dor abdominal e bacteremia) e 38 (18.35%) pelo preparo (insuficiência renal aguda, hipotensão). Pacientes ≥80 anos tiveram RR = 3.4 (1.2-10.1), P= 0.025, para complicações e aqueles com índice de Charlson 3, um RR = 5.2 (1.6-16.8), P= 0.006. Cumulative illness rating scale for geriatrics, não mostrou associação com complicações (P = 0.45).ConclusãoHouve risco significativo de complicação em muito idosos (≥80 years) e no grupo com índice de Charlson 3. Cumulative illness rating scale for geriatrics não se mostrou um bom preditor de risco nesta amostra.