Frailty and risk of hospitalization from COVID-19 infection among older adults : evidence from the Dutch Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort study
Background: Frailty is associated with COVID-19 severity in clinical settings. No general population-based studies on the association between actual frailty status and COVID-19 hospitalization are available. Aims: To investigate the association between frailty and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization once infected. Methods: 440 older adults who participated in the Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort study in the Northern Netherlands and reported positive COVID-19 testing results (54.2% women, age 70 ± 4 years in 2021) were included in the analyses. COVID-19 hospitalization status was self-reported. The... Mehr ...
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Dokumenttyp: | article/Letter to editor |
Erscheinungsdatum: | 2022 |
Schlagwörter: | COVID-19 / Coronavirus / Frailty / Groningen Frailty Indicator |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Permalink: | https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26683236 |
Datenquelle: | BASE; Originalkatalog |
Powered By: | BASE |
Link(s) : | https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/frailty-and-risk-of-hospitalization-from-covid-19-infection-among |
Background: Frailty is associated with COVID-19 severity in clinical settings. No general population-based studies on the association between actual frailty status and COVID-19 hospitalization are available. Aims: To investigate the association between frailty and the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization once infected. Methods: 440 older adults who participated in the Lifelines COVID-19 Cohort study in the Northern Netherlands and reported positive COVID-19 testing results (54.2% women, age 70 ± 4 years in 2021) were included in the analyses. COVID-19 hospitalization status was self-reported. The Groningen Frailty Indicator (GFI) was derived from 15 self-reported questionnaire items related to daily activities, health problems, and psychosocial functioning, with a score ≥ 4 indicating frailty. Both frailty and COVID-19 hospitalization were assessed in the same period. Poisson regression models with robust standard errors were used to analyze the associations between frailty and COVID-19 hospitalization. Results: Of 440 older adults included, 42 were hospitalized because of COVID-19 infection. After adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization was observed for frail individuals (risk ratio (RR) [95% CI] 1.97 [1.06–3.67]) compared to those classified as non-frail. Discussion: Frailty was positively associated with COVID-19 hospitalization once infected, independent of sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. Future research on frailty and COVID-19 should consider biomarkers of aging and frailty to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms and manifestations between frailty and COVID-19 outcomes. Conclusions: Frailty was positively associated with the risk of hospitalization among older adults that were infected with COVID-19. Public health strategies for frailty prevention in older adults need to be advocated, as it is helpful to reduce the burden of the healthcare system, particularly during a pandemic like COVID-19.