Geriatric syndromes included falls, cognitive impairment, frailty, major depression, sensory impairment, and urinary incontinence.
ISRCTN: ISRCTN96340690 Sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle mass and performance, is a major component of frailty [ 1].
Two other major covariables included frailty as measured by the Elder Risk Assessment (ERA) index and age.
5– 7 It is a major cause of frailty 6 and, importantly, predicts future mortality in middle-aged as well as older adults.
Chronic inflammation causes muscle wasting [ 27] and leads to weight loss, exhaustion, weakness or slow gait speed; these are all major components of frailty [ 5].
Adrenocortical hormone balance may thus be a major determinant of frailty in older hip fracture patients, particularly in those with depression.
As we said previously, recent study demonstrated that over 50% of elderly patients with cardiovascular diseases are frail, which makes FS a major problem as frailty is associated with increased mortality.
Age-related loss of muscle mass and strength is the major contributor to frailty and loss of independence in the elderly (Marcell, 2003) such that by the age of 70, the cross-sectional area of skeletal muscle is reduced by 25 30% and muscle strength is reduced by 30 40% (Porter et al., 1995).
Finding a biological markers with diagnostic and prognostic capacity would be a major milestone to identify frailty risk, and also pre-frailty status.
Reduced physical function and frailty are major determinants of adverse outcomes in older patients with hospitalized ADHF.
