Frailty phenotype and associated nutritional factors in a sample of Portuguese outpatients with heart failure

Abstract

Background and aim: Frailty phenotype (FP) is very common in heart failure (HF) and both syndromes worsen one another. The aim of this study is to first describe FP in a sample of Portuguese patients with HF, and to analyse its association with nutritional and clinical statuses, namely, muscle mass, obesity and functional class. Methods and results: In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 136 outpatients with HF (24e81 years, 33.8% women) were randomly selected from the appointments' listings of a HF and Transplant clinic in a Portuguese University Hospital. FP was assessed according to Fried et al. muscle mass was estimated from the mid-upper arm muscle circumference; weight status was assessed using the body mass index; HF functional classes were registered. The association between participants' characteristics and FP categories was analysed using logistic ordinal regression. The frequency of pre-frailty and frailty is 57.4% and 15.4%, respectively. Within frail individuals, 52.4% were under the age of 65. In multivariable analysis, frailty was positively associated with age 70 or older (OR Z 3.44) and obesity (OR Z 2.66), and negatively associated with muscle mass (OR Z 0.77) and HF functional classes I (OR Z 0.14) or II (OR Z 0.29). Conclusion: Muscle mass seems to be an important predictor of frailty in patients with HF and should be taken into account when designing intervention plans that allow for reverting or modifying frailty and pre-frailty. Younger patients should be monitored for the presence and evolution of FP.

Statins are associated with reduced likelihood of sarcopenia in a sample of heart failure outpatients: a cross-sectional study

“…All anthropometric measurements were performed by a registered nutritionist according to standard procedures and are thoroughly described elsewhere [15]. These measurements include standing height, weight, calf circumference, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TST).…”

Risk factors for frailty in older adults

“…We eventually included 36 papers for this research. [4,5,8–41] The conditions in these studies and the clinical details of the patients are presented in Table 1. The search flow diagram is presented in Figure 1.…”

“…Finally, there are 36 studies [4,5,8–41] with 58,028 people included in this systematic-review. Data extraction included the baseline characteristics of aging adults, their lifestyle habits, their accompanying diseases, and whether they had experienced falls.…”

“…Several recent studies have identified severity of frailty across various conditions, including old age, female sex, and reduced concentration and motivation. [4,5,8–41] However, high-quality systematic reviews are still in demand. Overall, we conducted this project to study the risk factors for frailty.…”

Differential effects of frailty on biventricular function and prognosis analysis in senile patients

“…[3] 5 However, what aspect of frailty affects heart failure or heart function? These two syndromes may share common pathophysiological pathways, such as cellular senescence, oxidative stress, abnormal autophagy, and deoxyribonucleic acid damage [7]. It has been reported that heart failure with preserved ejection fraction has a higher incidence in patients with frailty than heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.…”