Physical function and frailty in elderly patients with acute coronary syndrome

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): This work was supported by grants from CIBER CV, Madrid, Spain [grant number 16/11/00420] and Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER, Madrid, Spain.

Frailty is described a complex clinical syndrome of increased vulnerability to stressors that places the individual at increased risk of adverse health outcomes. It results from multiple impairments (among others, in physical functioning) and its severity ranges from mild to severe. In older cardiac patients, frailty is reported to be a significant and an independent predictor of functional decline.

To analyze the relationship between physical functioning and frailty of elderly patients with an Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS).

A cross-sectional study was carried out. A total of 110 patients, aged ³ 70 years and hospitalized for ACS were included. Frailty status was determined by using the Fried scale. The Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), which includes three timed tasks (balance, walking and leg strength), was used to assess physical functioning. The SPPB total score and the partial scores of its different dimensions were compared between frail and pre-frail patients.

Sample characteristics and results are shown in table 1. There were differences between groups for all the studied variables (p<.01). Pre-frail patients achieved higher total and partial scores in the SPPB.

Our results showed that, in elderly patients with ACS, those in a pre-frail status showed better physical function (SPPB total score and partial scores of its dimensions) than those who were frail. Due to unbalanced groups size, these results must be interpreted with caution requiring future research with larger samples.