Frailty and the Association Between Long-Term Recovery After Intensive Care Unit Admission

Carmel L Montgomery; Darryl B Rolfson; Sean M Bagshaw

doi:10.1016/j.ccc.2018.06.007

Frailty and the Association Between Long-Term Recovery After Intensive Care Unit Admission

Crit Care Clin. 2018 Oct;34(4):527-547. doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2018.06.007. Epub 2018 Aug 11.

Authors

Carmel L Montgomery¹, Darryl B Rolfson², Sean M Bagshaw³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, 2-124 Clinical Sciences Building, 11350 83 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G3, Canada.
² Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, 1-198 Clinical Sciences Building, 11350 83 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G3, Canada.
³ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, 2-124 Clinical Sciences Building, 11350 83 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G3, Canada. Electronic address: bagshaw@ualberta.ca.

PMID: 30223992
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccc.2018.06.007

Abstract

Frailty is common, although infrequently screened for among patients admitted to intensive care. Frailty has been the focus of research in geriatric medicine; however, its epidemiology and interaction with critical illness have only recently been studied. Instruments to screen for and measure frailty require refinement in intensive care settings. Frail critically ill patients are at higher risk of poor outcomes. Frail survivors of critical illness are high users of health resources. Further research is needed to understand how frailty assessment can inform decision-making before and during an episode of critical illness and during an intensive care course for frail patients.

Keywords: Aged; Critical illness; Frail; Health-related quality of life; Mortality; Outcome; Prognosis; Recovery of function.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cognitive Dysfunction / complications
Critical Illness / therapy*
Frailty / complications*
Frailty / mortality
Frailty / psychology
Frailty / therapy*
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Mental Health
Patient Admission
Quality of Life*
Time Factors
Treatment Outcome