Frailty is defined as an age-related decline in multiple physiological systems. Frail older adults have increased vulnerability to stressor events, poorer quality of life, and increased risk for major adverse health outcomes. A recent study was designed to investigate the role of the circadian function as potential physiological correlates of frailty development. We all know that circadian clocks govern pretty …
Physical frailty is weakness, slowness, unintentional weight loss, and fatigue. If your body starts wasting, so does your ability to go about your daily life and do things you enjoy. The body’s hormones that are responsible for maintaining muscle mass decline with age. Since older adults tend to be less active and eat less protein, aging challenges our bodies in …
It goes without saying that as elders become frailer, there is a higher risk that their care needs may not be met. Think about the 90-year-old who is transferred to the ER by ambulance with a “bad headache”. This transfer begins a journey of new faces, new care providers, new surroundings, and the delirium that often accompanies it. The patient …
One little-discussed, long-term toll of the pandemic: Large numbers of older adults have become physically and cognitively debilitated and less able to care for themselves during 15 months of sheltering in place. No large-scale studies have documented the extent of this phenomenon however, physicians, physical therapists, and health plan leaders said the prospect of increased impairment and frailty in the …
Older adults account for almost one-half of hospitalizations due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Providing post-acute rehabilitation for frail older adults recovering from COVID-19 remains a significant challenge as nursing facilities, one of the most common settings for post-acute care, have become overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As the post-acute period is an essential window of opportunity for recovery, having …
A study was done to investigate the association between different combined statuses of frailty and polypharmacy on risks of adverse outcomes. The subjects were aged 65-100 years old and were identified from an Insurance Research Database in Taiwan. Frailty was categorized into fit, mild, moderate, and severe frailty based on the multimorbidity frailty index. The use of 5-9 and over …
A study conducted in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic had some very interesting variables and outcomes. The study was performed in an acute care setting with geriatric patients with the goal of analyzing whether frailty and comorbidities are associated with in-hospital mortality and discharge to home. The COVID-19 diagnosis was clinically confirmed by positive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test, or, …
In a recent study, frailty is associated with all-cause mortality risk in older inpatients with COVID-19. Frailty is defined as the propensity to deteriorate in the face of a stressor. It reflects homeostatic reserve and physiological resilience or “biological age.” It is increasingly used to stratify clinical populations to reflect differing prognosis and clinical needs, in particular the need for …
COVID-19 disproportionately affects older adults, partly due to increased prevalence of frailty. Frail adults in residential settings may be at particular risk of transmission of respiratory illness. Understanding the differences in COVID-19 presentation resulting from frailty is imperative to prompt rapid diagnosis, isolation and contact-tracing and to guide assessment and treatment. Early identification of frailty facilitates a differential, targeted clinical …
Although we have posted many blog articles on the issue of Frailty, this study caught my eye because frailty is becoming more and more a concern for our residents! How many of your residents in the past year required emergency general surgery? What exactly is emergency general surgery? According to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics …
