Prevalence and risk factors of frailty in older patients with chronic heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Aim: To provide a summary of the available evidence concerning prevalence and risk factors of frailty in elderly patients with CHF.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, The Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Biomedical Database (Sinomed), Weipu Database (VIP), and Wanfang database were searched from inception to July 2023. This study strictly followed the PRISMA guidelines. The quality of the included studies was rated by the Agency for Healthcare and Research and Quality and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

Results: A total of 21 original studies were included, involving 4,797 patients. Meta-analysis results showed that the prevalence of frailty in older patients with heart failure was 38% (95%CI: 0.32-0.44). Age, cardiac function grading, left atrial diameter, left ventricular ejection fraction, hemoglobin, polypharmacy, BNP, nutritional risk, and hospitalization day are the influential factors of frailty in older patients with CHF.

Conclusion: The prevalence of frailty in older patients with CHF is high, and clinical medical personnel should identify and intervene early to reduce or delay the frailty in older patients with CHF as much as possible.

Keywords: Frailty; Meta-analysis; Prevalence; Risk factors.