Clinical implication of frailty assessment in older patients with atrial fibrillation

We aimed to show the frailty status in older AF patients, and to find the association between frailty and the scores of CHA₂DS₂-VASc and HAS-BLED. Ultimately, we sought to investigate the impact of frailty on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in older AF patients.

We retrospectively evaluated 365 patients (≥65years old) with AF, who underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) between 2007 and 2014 in a single tertiary hospital. The CHA₂DS₂-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were calculated based on the electronic medical records and the frailty index was computed from the CGA data. The primary outcomes were cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.

Frailty status was positively associated with the CHA₂DS₂-VASc score (P<0.001) and the HAS-BLED score (P=0.01). Patients with high CHA₂DS₂-VASc and HAS-BLED scores were more likely to be treated with anticoagulants rather than antiplatelet agents. However, frailty status was not associated with antithrombotic therapy. During the follow-up period (median [interquartile range], 22.9 [8.4-42.2] months), 141 patients (38.6%) died, of which 48 were due to cardiovascular events. CHA₂DS₂-VASc score could predict cardiovascular mortality, but not all-cause mortality. In contrast, frailty status was the independent predictor for both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality after adjusting for possible confounders (hazard ratio for all-cause mortality, 4.549; 95% CI, 2.756-7.509; P<0.001).

Frailty assessment can be used to predict mortality in older AF patients, and provides additional prognostic value, along with the CHA₂DS₂-VASc and HAS-BLED scores.