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. 2022 Apr;34(4):945-949.
doi: 10.1007/s40520-021-02070-z. Epub 2022 Mar 17.

Frailty as a predictor of mortality in COVID-19 patients receiving CPAP for respiratory insufficiency

Sarah Damanti  1 , Giuseppe Alvise Ramirez  2 , Enrica Paola Bozzolo  3 , Valentina Da Prat  3 , Giuseppe Di Lucca  3 , Gaetano Di Terlizzi  3 , Alessandro Marinosci  3 , Raffaella Scotti  3 , Silvia Strada  3 , Paolo Scarpellini  4 , Barbara Castiglioni  4 , Chiara Oltolini  4 , Marco Ripa  4 , Chiara Tassan Din  4 , Clarissa Elisabeth Centurioni  3   5 , Flavia Di Scala  3   5 , Agnese Gobbi  3   5 , Ada Carla Alba  6 , Giuseppina Maria Casiraghi  6 , Anna Morgillo  3   5 , Moreno Tresoldi  3
Affiliations

Frailty as a predictor of mortality in COVID-19 patients receiving CPAP for respiratory insufficiency

Sarah Damanti et al. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: Exploring the association between frailty and mortality in a cohort of patients with COVID-19 respiratory insufficiency treated with continuous positive airway pressure.

Methods: Frailty was measured using a Frailty Index (FI) created by using the baseline assessment data on comorbidities and body mass index and baseline blood test results (including pH, lactate dehydrogenase, renal and liver function, inflammatory indexes and anemia). FI > 0.25 identified frail individuals.

Results: Among the 159 included individuals (81% men, median age of 68) frailty was detected in 69% of the patients (median FI score 0.3 ± 0.08). Frailty was associated to an increased mortality (adjusted HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.02-3.88, p = 0.04).

Conclusions: Frailty is highly prevalent among patients with COVID-19, predicts poorer outcomes independently of age. A personalization of care balancing the risk and benefit of treatments (especially the invasive ones) in such complex patients is pivotal.

Keywords: COVID-19; Frailty; Mortality; Non-invasive ventilation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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