Frailty Pathogenesis, Assessment, and Management in Older Adults With COVID-19

Quan She; Bo Chen; Wen Liu; Min Li; Weihong Zhao; Jianqing Wu

doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.694367

Frailty Pathogenesis, Assessment, and Management in Older Adults With COVID-19

Front Med (Lausanne). 2021 Jul 6:8:694367. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.694367. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Quan She¹, Bo Chen¹, Wen Liu¹, Min Li¹, Weihong Zhao¹, Jianqing Wu¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Geriatrics, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Abstract

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and deadly disease. The elderly people are often accompanied by chronic inflammation and immunodeficiency, showing a frail state. The strength, endurance, and physiological function of the elderly are significantly decreased, and the ability to deal with stress response is weakened. They are the high-risk group that suffering from COVID-19, and rapidly developing to critical illness. Several recent studies suggest that the incidence rate of COVID-19 in elderly patients with frailty is high. Early assessment, detection, and effective intervention of frailty in COVID-19 patients are conducive to significantly improve the quality of life and improve prognosis. However, there are insufficient understanding and standards for the current evaluation methods, pathogenesis and intervention measures for COVID-19 combined with frailty. This study reviews the progress of the research on the potential pathogenesis, evaluation methods and intervention measures of the elderly COVID-19 patients with frailty, which provides a reference for scientific and reasonable comprehensive diagnosis and treatment in clinical.

Keywords: COVID-19; assessment; frailty; management; pathogenesis.

Publication types

Review