Frailty prevalence in Aotearoa New Zealand haemodialysis patients and its association with hospitalisations.

AIMS To use two frailty tools to assess frailty prevalence in a cohort of Aotearoa New Zealand haemodialysis (HD) patients and determine factors associated with frailty and frailty's association with adverse health outcomes. METHODS Frailty was measured using the Fried score and Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS) in HD patients dialysing at dependent or satellite clinic sites in Waitematā District Health Board, Auckland. Linear regression models were used to explore factors associated with frailty measurements. Logistic regression models were used to assess associations between frailty and mortality and hospitalisations. RESULTS 138 participants. Mean (SD) age: 61.5 (13.5) years. 70 females (51%). 51 (37%) were frail by Fried score. 51 (37%) were frail by EFS (overlap of 32 participants). Age, marital status, smoking status and albumin were independently associated with both measures of frailty. Medication number was additionally associated with Fried score. Pacific ethnicity and Charlson Comorbidity Index were associated with EFS score. After adjusting for covariables, only Fried frailty was associated with hospitalisations at six months. CONCLUSIONS Pacific ethnicity was independently associated with increased risk of EFS frailty. Fried frailty was associated with hospitalisations at six months. Given the paucity of literature on the New Zealand population, further work within these ethnic groups is warranted.