Frailty as an instrument for evaluation of elderly patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: A follow-up after more than 5 years:

BackgroundThere is a growing body of evidence on the relevance of using frailty measures also in a cardiovascular context. The estimated time to death is crucial in clinical decision-making in cardiology. However, data on the importance of frailty in long-term mortality are very scarce. The aim of the study was to assess the prognostic value of frailty on mortality at long-term follow-up of more than 5 years in patients 75 years or older hospitalised for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. We hypothesised that frailty is independently associated with long-term mortality.DesignThis was a prospective, observational study conducted at three centres.Methods and resultsFrailty was assessed according to the Canadian Study of Health and Aging clinical frailty scale (CFS). Of 307 patients, 149 (48.5%) were considered frail according to the study instrument (degree 5–7 on the scale). The long-term all-cause mortality of more than 5 years (median 6.7 years) was significantly higher among frail patients ...