Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) correlates with accelerated aging and earlier appearance of geriatric phenotypes, including frailty. However, whether pre-frailty or frailty predicts greater healthcare utilization in diabetes patients is unclear.
Methods: From the Longitudinal Cohort of Diabetes Patients in Taiwan (n = 840,000) between 2004 and 2010, we identified 560,795 patients with incident type 2 DM, categorized into patients without frailty, or with 1, 2 (pre-frail) and ≥ 3 frailty components, based on FRAIL scale (Fatigue, Resistance, Ambulation, Illness, and body weight Loss). We examined their long-term mortality, cardiovascular risk, all-cause hospitalization, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission.
Results: Among all participants (56.4 ± 13.8 year-old, 46.1% female, and 84.8% community-dwelling), 77.8% (n = 436,521), 19.2% (n = 107,757), 2.7% (n = 15,101), and 0.3% (n = 1416) patients did not have or had 1, 2 (pre-frail), and ≥ 3 frailty components (frail), respectively, with Fatigue and Illness being the most common components. After 3.14 years of follow-up, 7.8% patients died, whereas 36.6% and 9.1% experienced hospitalization and ICU stay, respectively. Cox proportional hazard modeling discovered that patients with 1, 2 (pre-frail), and ≥ 3 frailty components (frail) had an increased risk of mortality (for 1, 2, and ≥ 3 components, hazard ratio [HR] 1.05, 1.13, and 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.07, 1.08-1.17, and 1.15-1.36, respectively), cardiovascular events (HR 1.05, 1.15, and 1.13; 95% CI 1.02-1.07, 1.1-1.2, and 1.01-1.25, respectively), hospitalization (HR 1.06, 1.16, and 1.25; 95% CI 1.05-1.07, 1.14-1.19, and 1.18-1.33, respectively), and ICU admission (HR 1.05, 1.13, and 1.17; 95% CI 1.03-1.07, 1.08-1.14, and 1.06-1.28, respectively) compared to non-frail ones. Approximately 6-7% risk elevation in mortality and healthcare utilization was noted for every frailty component increase.
Conclusion: Pre-frailty and frailty increased the risk of mortality and cardiovascular events, and entailed greater healthcare utilization in patients with type 2 DM.
Keywords: Diabetes mellitus; Frail phenotype; Frailty; Hospitalization; Mortality.