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Frailty syndrome in patients with heart rhythm disorders

Agnieszka Mlynarska1,2, Rafal Mlynarski2, Krzysztof S Golba2,3

  • 1Department of Internal Nursing, Chair of Internal Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.

Geriatrics & Gerontology International
|August 26, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Frailty syndrome affects nearly a quarter of patients with cardiac arrhythmias, with an additional 40% at higher risk. This condition is more prevalent in patients with atrio-ventricular blocks, particularly women.

Area of Science:

  • Geriatric Medicine
  • Cardiology
  • Clinical Frailty Assessment

Background:

  • Heart rhythm disorders are common in the elderly population.
  • Pacemaker implantation is a frequent intervention for managing these conditions.
  • Frailty is an emerging concern in cardiovascular disease management.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of frailty syndrome in patients with heart rhythm disorders requiring pacemaker implantation.
  • To compare frailty rates between patients with different types of arrhythmias.
  • To investigate the association between frailty and cardiac arrhythmias.

Main Methods:

  • 171 patients undergoing pacemaker implantation for sinus node dysfunction or atrio-ventricular blocks (AVB) were studied.
  • A control group of 60 patients without heart rhythm disorders was included.
  • Frailty was assessed using the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale.

Main Results:

  • Frailty syndrome was diagnosed in 25.15% of patients with arrhythmias, and pre-frailty in 36.84%.
  • Frailty was significantly more common in AVB patients (33.34%) than in sinus node dysfunction patients (16.05%).
  • Arrhythmias were strongly associated with frailty syndrome (OR 2.1286).

Conclusions:

  • Frailty syndrome is prevalent in approximately one-quarter of patients with cardiac arrhythmias, with a higher incidence in AVB patients, especially women.
  • A significant association exists between cardiac arrhythmias and frailty syndrome.
  • These findings highlight the importance of frailty assessment in patients with heart rhythm disorders.
Abstract

Keywords:
atrio-ventricular blockscardiac arrhythmiafrailtysinus node dysfunction

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