Frailty in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients under Dialysis and Its Association with Clinical and Biochemical Markers

Frailty is a common complication in elderly patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) under dialysis, which is a strong risk factor for low quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. In this work, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of frailty in a group of Portuguese ESRD patients, and its association with socio-demographic, clinical and biochemical markers. We performed a cross-sectional study with 83 ESRD patients (44 males and 39 females, 64.3 [±14.6] years old) on regular dialysis. The classification of the ESRD patients as robust, pre-frail and frail was performed using the FRAIL questionnaire. Social support, data about sociodemographic and comorbidities, and haematological, iron status, dialysis adequacy, nutritional and inflammatory markers were also evaluated. Our results confirmed that frailty is a highly prevalent condition in ESRD patients, particularly in female patients. An association between FRAIL score and increased depressive symptoms, presence of hypertension and decrease nutritional status was also found.