Objectives: To determine the association between frailty and short-term mortality in older adults hospitalized for coronavirus disease 2019 . Design: Retrospective single-center observational study. Setting and participants: Eighty-one patients with COVID-19 confirmed by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), at the Geriatrics department of a general hospital in Belgium. Measurements: Frailty was graded according to the Rockwood Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). Demographic, biochemical, and radiologic variables, comorbidities, symptoms, and treatment were extracted from electronic medical records. Results: Participants (N ¼ 48 women, 59%) had a median age of 85 years (range 65-97 years) and a median CFS score of 7 (range 2-9); 42 (52%) were long-term care residents. Within 6 weeks, 19 patients died. Mortality was significantly but weakly associated with age (Spearman r ¼ 0.241, P ¼ .03) and CFS score (r ¼ 0.282, P ¼ .011), baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH; r ¼ 0.301, P ¼ .009), lymphocyte count (r ¼ À0.262, P ¼ .02), and RT-PCR cycle threshold (Ct, r ¼ À0.285, P ¼ .015). Mortality was not associated with long-term care residence, dementia, delirium, or polypharmacy. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, CFS, LDH, and RT-PCR Ct (but not age) remained independently associated with mortality. Both age and frailty had poor specificity to predict survival. A multivariable model combining age, CFS, LDH, and viral load significantly predicted survival. Conclusions and Implications: Although their prognosis is worse, even the oldest and most severely frail patients may benefit from hospitalization for COVID-19, if sufficient resources are available.
