Frailty at the beginning of dialysis; is it a prognostic factor?

Santiago Silva, Cristina Milano, Gonzalo García, Anabel Abib, Carlos Díaz, Gustavo Laham
2021 Journal of renal endocrinology  
Frailty (F) refers to the cumulative organic damage caused by aging, as a consequence of a diminished physiological reserve. Frailty's prevalence is 73% in dialysis. Objectives: Our aim was to identify the prevalence of F in patients starting hemodialysis (HD) or hemodiafiltration online (HDF) treatment. To asses change in frailty during a six-month period of dialysis Patients and Methods: This prospective cohort study evaluated 67 incident patient starting-HD or HDF at one year, with a
more » ... p period of at least six months. The frailty was assessed by the Fried frailty method. According to this test, we divided the population in two groups: Pre-frail (0-2) and frail (3-5). Results: Mean age was 64 years, 64% were male and 92% were treated with HD. A total of 35.8% of the patients were admitted to dialysis with a prosthetic or native fistula. The prevalence of F at the beginning of dialysis was 65.7%. The mean value of Charlson index (CHI) was 5.2 ± 2. There was a significant correlation between CHI and frailty test (P<0.0001). Basal F score (n=67) improved after 6 month (n=52): 3 (2-4) versus1 (1-2) (P<0.0001). Hematocrit (28 versus 32% P=0.05) and calcium levels (8.6 and 8.9 mg/dL, P<0.002) also increased after sixth-month. Global mortality was 7.5%. In the multivariate analysis CHI (P<0.001) and albumin (P=0.003) were frailty predictors. Conclusion: The prevalence of F in patients who start dialysis therapy is high. There was an improvement in F score after six-month of dialysis treatment. Patients with higher F score had higher mortality with higher CHI
doi:10.34172/jre.2021.13 fatcat:y3z2n6r4fffbralo4s4le3is44